Freedom and Fun
by Loulabelle
Summary: Bella has lived in France since she was 8, but she needs to get away for a while. Now it’s time to start college so she has returned to the US. What will happen when she begins school in another country and gets to know here peers. ALL HUMAN! ON HIATUS!
1. Moving Out

**_Before you begin reading this I just want to let you know that it does get better after the first few chapters. It may not look like much now but (not to sound conceited or anything) I AM a really good author and this is a really good story. Please give it a chance. Thanks!_**

_**Summary:** __Bella has lived in France since she was eight (8) but she is not happy there anymore. She needs to get away. Now it's time to start college so she has returned to the US (where she was born). What will happen when she begins school in another country and gets to know her peers? ALL HUMAN _

_I apologize in advance for any bad English in this story_

_This chapter is dedicated to my good friend OnMySide who turned 17 today (10-3-2008)_

_Happy Birthday! :D_

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and all its characters. I only own Alexandra, Charlotte and Claude.**

* * *

**Chapter 1 - Moving Out**

My room was so bare. The afternoon sun shone through the window, illuminating the depressing beige walls were devoid of posters; my desk-which normally couldn't be seen under all the piles of paper and other objects-was empty. Even the sheets were gone from the bed. It looked as though the room had been empty for weeks.

But that was not the case. My room had slowly been getting emptier and emptier over the past few weeks as my possessions were boxed up and shipped to my new home. The last of my things had been packed away and now it was my turn to ship out.

No, I wasn't moving with my family. They were staying here while I went abroad to study at the prestigious Elizabeth Masen University in Los Angeles.

I was finally getting out of here.

Not that I didn't love living in Amiens. The beautiful gothic architecture and cathedrals were one of the best things about my life here in France. My sketchbook was filled with drawings of the ancient pillars and designs for stained glass. The scenery was not why I was so desperate to leave.

No, the reason I was so happy to be leaving is that I can finally free myself of Renee and her constant reminders that I wasn't good enough.

Day after day. Year after Year. She had always been able to find something about my appearance or personality that she hated. I was never able to just ignore her, so I had devoted almost my entire life to trying to please her.

If she told me I was fat I would exercise more and eat les until she was happy. If my grades weren't good enough I would drop everything else and study so they would improve. But still nothing was good enough.

Now I was free.

"Isabella get down here now."

Well almost free.

"Coming Mother." I called back.

I glanced quickly around my room to make extra sure that I hadn't left anything behind. Nope, nothing left. And with that I began the slow and difficult process of dragging my suitcase-which was full to the brim with the last of my possessions-to the top of the stairs.

"Hurry up the cars here." Renee yelled.

"Give me a minute will you." I yelled back.

"I've got it Bells?" Charlie had just appeared at the top of the stairs. "You haven't left anything behind?"

"Everything's there Charlie." I would never in a million years even so much as dream of call my mother by her first name. But Charlie has never answered to anything else.

"Then let's get this thing down to the car."

"It's all yours."

It was actually quite funny to watch Charlie carry my suitcase down stairs. He made it to the bottom of the steps eventually and wheeled it to the car. I followed soon after, letting out an exasperated sign as I saw the car Renee was talking about.

Our town car was parked right outside the front door, trunk open, waiting for my luggage and of course me. Sleek, black and polished to the extreme, the only way Charlie would have his cars look. I hated that car, too many bad memories of nannies and family outings gone wrong.

I shuddered and turned toward my parents for one final farewell.

"You'd better get going or you'll miss your plane."

_Ahh Renee I'm going to miss you too,_ I thought.

"Goodbye Mother." I gave her a quick awkward hug before moving on the Charlie.

"Goodbye Daddy. I'll call you later."

"Call as soon as you get in, no matter what the time." He smiled and hugged me tightly.

"Hurry up Charlie, or she'll miss her flight."

Charlie just rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"She has plenty of time Renee. And I still need to give her something." He started to fish around in his pockets.

"Charlie, you're paying for me to go to school almost halfway around the world. You don't need to give me anything else." I assured him.

"You're my little girl; I want to make sure you're able to get everything you need." And with that he pulled out a small thin box with a red ribbon and gave it to me.

I just stared at it. _What is it?_

"Go on Bells. Open it."

"Oh...Okay?"

I gasped as the lid came all that way off reviling a shinny gold credit card inside.

"Wha...?" I couldn't even get out a full sentence.

_Why is he giving me this?_

I knew, and Renee always made sure that everyone else knew too, that my family was very wealthy. My parents had both inherited large amounts of money from family and Charlie was a lawyer, so it' wasn't surprising that he wanted to help me out.

But I had never a credit card of my own. Renee would normally just send one of our maids shopping with me to purchase thing, with _her_ credit card, when she _sent_ me shopping.

_How did he convince Renee to let me have this?_

I looked up at my parents and I got my answer. Renee new nothing about this.

The phrase 'If looks could kill' ran through my mind. If that were true, and looks could kill, Charlie would be dead 12 times over.

Charlie wasn't looking at Renee, so he didn't see. He was still waiting for me to say something that he could understand.

"WOW Charlie. This is...really something." That was all I had.

"Well we didn't want you to go without or miss out on things. So here is my solution," he tapped the shinny card with his index finger. "I want you to have fun."

"But...wait what? Charlie I can't take this."

"Don't worry sweetheart. You'll need it at school."

He smiled and hugged me once more.

"Now you really have to go or you will miss your flight." Renee barked. I looked at my watch. _I still have plenty of time._ But I guess Renee just wanted me gone so she could yell at Charlie.

My suitcase was safely in the truck and the driver was holding the door open for me.

"Bye Bells. Don't forget to call when you get in." Charlie called as I was driven away. Renee said nothing.

The miles flew away under the tires of the fancy car and I lay my head against the back of the seat.

_Freedom_.

* * *

The trip to the airport took a little longer than expected but it was still too early to check in. So I found an empty seat and sat down.

After a few minutes of people watching I pulled my sketch book out of my bag. I had a small drawing of some flowers that I hadn't finished yet, so I set to work.

I was so engrossed in what I was doing that I didn't notice the people around me until someone put their hands over my eyes.

"Gah..." I screamed. Then I saw the rings.

"Charlotte! You should know by now not to scare me like that." I slowly turned as I scolded my friend. She looked just the same as always.

Charlotte was, for want of a better word, a Hippy. Everything from her layered and extremely bright clothing to her headbands, rings and bangles screamed "nonconformist". I loved the way she never did what was expected.

Every time I saw her there was something different about her. Today her latest addition to her 'special look', as we called it, was a few hot pink streaks in her long, wavy light brown hair.

"Bon après-midi, mon ami." (Good afternoon my friend)

"Bon après-midi, Charlotte. What are you doing here?"

"We came to say goodbye."

I hadn't noticed that she wasn't alone. But now that I looked I noticed that behind her stood two more of my friends.

Alex and Claude were the complete opposite of each other in appearance. But as they say, opposites attract.

Alex (who's real name is Alexandra, but we never call her that) was short and thin, with waves of blonde hair flowing to her waist, and the bluest eyes you've ever seen. She always wore skinny jeans that were turned up at the bottom and cute little peasant tops. On the rare occasion she was known to wear a few designer outfits, but generally she just kept it simple (although I always thought she looked like a rock star).

Claude was, as I said, the complete opposite. He was tall and buff, with short dark hair and brown eyes. His outfits were picked out the day before my Alex, who wouldn't have her boyfriend look anything but perfect. Today it was just a simple jeans and a T-shirt combo, pretty tame considering Alex's taste. The front of the shirt was decorated with a map of the New York subway system.

"Cool shirt Claude."

Alex beamed at me. "Do you like it? I thought it was cute."

Claude just rolled his eyes at her.

"Yeah it's cool. Too bad he doesn't have one for Los Angeles huh?"

"Yeah. He... Wait a minute, are you making fun of me missy?"

"Me...Make fun of the great Alexandra Fontaine…Never!" She smacked my arm.

"Ouch…Claude…Charlotte…Stop her." I complained as she continued to hit me, with considerable force I might add.

"Now now Alex. We can't send her off damaged." Claude wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her away laughing.

"What's wrong Charlotte?" I asked. She was glaring at Alex and Claude with her arms crossed in front of her. "Charlotte?"

"She's angry with us." Alex explained.

"Why?"

"Ils ont promis."

"What did they promise?"

"Nous avons dit que nous ne serions pas à vous parler en français, mais rien." (We said we wouldn't speak to you in anything but French).

"Why would you do that?" She ignored me.

I asked again "Pourquoi devriez-vous faire?" She smiled and hugged me.

"Parce que vos dernières heures ici doit être aussi français que possible." (Because your last few hours here should be as French as possible).

I laughed. As I said Charlotte never does what's expected.

"Alors, pourquoi êtes-vous tous ici?" (So why are you all here?) I asked. Not that I wasn't glad to see them one last time, before I left.

"Nous sommes venus dire au revoir." (We came to say goodbye) They chorused.

I was so touched they had come all this way to see me off. I didn't deserve friends as good as this. _Oh well I guess I'd better make that most of this while it lasts_, I thought as I cramed my sketchbook into my bag with my laptop and other items.

"Quelle heure est votre vol?"(What time is your flight?) Claude asked to alleviate the awkward silence.

"5pm," I looked down at my watch; it was 4:15pm already. "Oh ... je dois aller et de check-in." (Oh...I'd better go check-in).

With that I left them. In no time at all I was baggage free, and heading off to find my friends. Not surprisingly Alex had dragged them over to a funky little duty-free clothing shop where she was practically burying Charlotte and Claude in random items.

"Bella, nous sauver." (Bella Save us) Charlotte called when she saw me.

I couldn't do anything but laugh. I should have known better than to let Alex loose in any place with this many shops. In fact I surprised Claude hadn't stopped her already.

Charlotte's plea had finally caused Alex to notice me. She threw one final set of clothes at Claude and dragged everyone to the checkout.

"Rappelez-moi de ne jamais prendre à un aéroport plus jamais." (Remind me to never take you to an airport ever again.) Claude told Alex 20 minutes later, as he stumbled out of the shop carrying all of her bags.

Alex just stuck out her tongue at him.

_All passengers for flight 9125A to Los Angeles, boarding will commence in 15 minutes. All first class passengers must make their way to the gates now._ The horrible nasal voice called over the PA system.

"C'est mon vol." (That's my flight).

"Isn't there some way we could convince you to stay" Alex asked reverting to English.

"I can't stay here any longer Alex. Renee is becoming too much to handle and I need a change."

"Come and stay with us." Alex suggested. She had just recently moved into a small flat with Claude close to the university campus.

"Sorry, but my mind is set, and I have no way of getting a refund on my plane ticket. And to be perfectly honest I don't think I could cope with all of your PDAs." I laughed at their perplexed expressions.

"We're not that bad." Claude countered when he'd recovered himself.

"No you really are." Charlotte said trying to hide her laughter with a cough.

"Shut up Lotti." Alex said playfully punching her in the arm.

"Will you come back to visit?" Charlotte asked. "You're not going to leave me with only these two crazed lovebirds for company, are you?"

"If I get the chance I'll come and visit. But I don't know if that will be possible."

"We'll come and visit you then." She chirped.

"Oh you have no idea how much that would mean to me. What did I ever do to deserve you guys?"

"You tripped down the hall at school." Alex reminded me.

"The story of my life."

_All remaining passengers for flight 9125A to Los Angeles please make your way to the gate for boarding. Flight number 9125A._

I looked down at my watch again. _4:50pm already?_

"Don't go Bells." Alex pleaded as she hugged me tightly. I could barely breathe but thankfully Claude pulled her off me.

"The rest of us want to day goodbye too sweetheart." Alex sniffed loudly and moved away so I could say goodbye to Claude.

"You need to stay in touch okay?" He hugged me gently then surrendered me to Charlotte, who was crying. "Goodbye Bells."

I was free for one second before Charlotte tackled me. "You can't leave me." She wailed.

"I have to Charlotte. Don't worry I'll talk to you soon."

"You need to contact me as soon as you get in, okay?"

"Charlotte I can't afford too call..."

"You don't have to call. We found another way for you to stay in touch." She was smiling through her tears now.

"How?"

"We're not telling. You see when you get to your new place."

"Consider it a house-warming present from all of us." Alex added. "But right now you need to get on that plane." She said playfully shoving me toward the final check-in counter.

They all took turns hugging me once more. Normally I wasn't a very emotional person, but I couldn't help the small tear that escaped, when I finally began to walk away.

I was all checked in and waiting in line to board the plane when m phone vibrated in my pocket. I took it out and flipped it open.

_1 unread message_.

I opened the message and found a picture of Charlotte, Alex and Claude poking their tongues out at the camera. Underneath were a few short sentences.

_Love you. Keep in touch and we'll see you again soon._

I flipped my phone over and took a similar photo of myself and sent it off.

I laughed as I set the picture as my background and turned the phone off as I boarded the plane.

* * *

20 minutes later I was on the plane in my cushy business class seat (_Thanks Charlie_), watching the hostesses secure the luggage in the overhead compartments.

_Good afternoon passengers and welcome aboard flight number 9125A to Los Angeles. My name is Anthony and I'll be your pilot for this evening. I hope you all have a very enjoyable journey._

This message was repeated again in French by the co-pilot, as we began taxiing towards the runway.

A few minutes later we were in the air.

I felt so much lighter. Although I had left so many good thing behind, my friends for one, I was also feeling happier than I'd ever felt in my life.

No more Renee telling me what to do and not do. I was completely free.

No one would know who I was in college. This frightened me, but at the same time it filled me with an odd sense of hope.

I had a chance at a fresh start. Maybe I'd even make some friends.

The seat belt lights turned off and the plane leveled out. I pulled out my MP3 player and put the headphones into my ears, closing my eyes and losing myself in the familiar beat of the music.

* * *

A loud bang woke me up several hours later.

"Sorry miss," the hostess apologized. She looked extremely worried. "I didn't mean to wake you...um...would you like anything?" She said gesturing to the cart which had just crashed into my seat.

"No thanks." I replied drowsily.

"Okay miss." And with that she hurried away.

_How long had I been asleep?_ I looked down at my watch 1:40am, I'd been asleep for almost 7 hours.

I pulled my headphone out of my ears and glanced around the cabin. Most people were asleep but there were a few individuals who were either not tired or too uncomfortable to sleep.

Few a few minutes I watched the movie they had playing through the night. But I soon lost interest and drifted back to sleep, only to be woke again by he captains voice as it filled the cabin.

_Good morning passengers the time is now 3:30am in Paris, but her in Sunny California it as now 6:30pm. Please adjust your watches accordingly and prepare for landing._

* * *

After another half hour I had made my way off the plane and was standing at the luggage carrousel, impatiently waiting for my bag. When it finally came through I only just managed to collect it before it made another circuit.

Then, luggage in hand, I slowly made my way out of the airport to the waiting ranks of cabs. Before I'd even made it halfway to the first cab, the driver had hopped out, collected my luggage and placed it in the trunk of his car.

I made my way to the back and hopped in.

"Where to love?" He asked, he had a very strong southern accent.

"Elizabeth Masen University." I answered.

"You a student then?"

"Yeah."

"Cool."

And that was the last of our conversation for the whole trip.

We pulled up outside the dorms after a relatively short drive and the cabbie helped me unload my luggage before taking his fare and driving away.

I looked around at the beautiful buildings that surrounded the dorms. This place was perfect. I could only hope that the people, that I could see busily moving about there business, were as lovely as the school.

_Well here's you chance to find out Bella_, I thought as I turned to enter the dorm building. I slowly made my way up to the door and paused with my hand on the handle. I took one last deep breath before pushing the door open and entering the foyer.

The inside of the building was even more beautiful than the outside. The polished wood floor and creamy white walls, hung with some of the most beautiful paintings...I had no words to describe how excited I was.

At the far end of the foyer there was a plump woman sitting behind a polished reception desk. The name plate on her desk read _Mrs. Cope_.

She was pre occupied with a stack of papers, so she hadn't noticed my arrival. I looked around and noticed a bell on the desk, so rather than seem rude and clearing my throat to get her attention I decided to ring the bell.

My hand was half extended to ring the bell when a loud voice called out from behind me. "Evening Mrs. Cope."

I turned to see who had spoken and my eyes feel on a tall muscular boy with dark curly hair. He smiled at me and came up to the desk, obviously waiting his turn.

Mrs. Cope's head had flown up at the sound of her name. Her eyes briefly glanced towards the owner of the voice and she responded with a quick "Hello" before turning to me. "Oh...hello dear... I'm sorry. How long have you been standing there? "

"Not long at all." I replied, smiling. "Um...I'm Isabella Swan. I'm not really sure where I'm supposed to go."

"Of course. Well let me just check here," she began to tap away at her computer. "Ah! Here we go. You're in room 25B. It's a single and it's in the second floor. The last of your things just arrived this morning. Do you need help with your bags?"

"Um...No I'll manage."

"Well Emmett will help you if you decide you need it." With this she turned to face the boy standing next to me. "Won't you Emmett?"

"Of course Mrs. Cope. What I'm always happy to help out the new students." He turned to me and extended his hand. "Emmett Cullen. Pleased to meet you."

Mrs. Cope smiled warmly at him

"Isabella Swan." I shook his hand. "But please call me Bella."

"Okay. Well here you go Bella this is your key and I'll keep the spare here if you want until you decide on whom to give it to for safekeeping."

"Thank you Mrs. Cope."

"So you want help with your bags then?" Emmett asked.

"Yes please."

He laughed then quickly took my bag from me and headed towards the elevator, pushing the button for the second floor.

"So Bella how do you like LA so far?" he asked when we were crammed into the small elevator.

"Well I haven't had much time to decide since I only got in about," I glanced at my watch for what felt like the millionth time today. "An hour ago."

"Where'd you come from?"

"France."

"France! Well that explains the accent."

"I don't have an accent." I protested.

"Yeah you do. It's not too severe but it's definitely there."

"Whatever you say Emmett."

By this time we had reached the second floor and Emmett was wheeling my bag down the long hallway. After a while he came to an abrupt stop outside a door, the large 25B signified that it was mine.

"Thanks Emmett, you've been a real life saver."

"No problem Bella. See you 'round."

And with the he turned and walked back to the elevator.

I opened the door to my room and practically feel in. Not surprising since the room was almost completely full of boxes.

Thankfully the bed was mostly clutter free. So after a few minutes of stumbling around searching for the box containing my sheets, I was able to quickly make my bed and collapse onto it.

I had only enough energy to set the alarm on my phone before sleep took me once more.

_**

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A/N

_Well there you go, the first chapter of my new story. I tried to make it as long as possible since I won't be able to update until my exams finish on November 6__th__._

_What did you think? __I hope you'll all bear with me and keep reading when I update. Please?_

_I am not French, I don't speak French and I never studied French at school (I just used this translator thing on Google) so if any of my stuff is wrong please let me know._

_Once again: Happy Birthday OnMySide!_

_See you all again in just over a month,_

_Wish me luck in my HSC._

_XD_


	2. New Friends

_Hey everyone! Happy Halloween, here is my treat for you :D Yeah I know I said I wasn't updating until the 7th but I don't have any exams until Thursday (the 6th) and I really needed a study break (don't study chemistry, it's boring) so I decided I would work on this chapter. I hope it doesn't suck too much._

_You can skip this bit if you want but I am going to list all the countries which contain people who have read this story so far, in alphabetical order (because I have no life), hem hem Australia, Canada, Germany, Honduras (I didn't even know this country existed, it's in the Caribbean, at least that's what Google said :D), Hong Kong, Ireland, the UK and the USA. _

**Disclaimer: The fabulous Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and all it's characters**

_Here you go Chapter 2_

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Chapter 2 – New Friends

I woke up to the muted thudding of loud Rap music coming from the room next-door. I groaned and crawled out of bed. _Don't people sleep here?_ I thought. After a few minutes spent blindly stumbling around the dark room I found the light switch.

I then proceeded to rummage through my bag in search of my phone; only to remember that it wasn't in there. Turning away from my half empty bag, I grabbed my phone from where it sat on top of my nightstand and checked the time. 9:30pm, using my fingers I counted forward.

"6:30am in France" I proclaimed to the empty room. The thudding continued. "It's too early for this." I groaned. Well in real time it was too late for this, but that's beside the point.

I listened for a moment then slowly made my way over to the wall where the noise was loudest. "TURN IT OFF! SOME PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP." I yelled while pounding on the wall between us. My only response was and increase in the volume and the sound of muted laughter.

"Urgh" I groaned again.

Resigned to the fact that I wouldn't be getting any more sleep any time soon I made my way over to my suitcase. After a few minutes I found my favourite skinny jeans, my black wrap shirt (courtesy of Alex) and my toiletries.

My room had its own bathroom, for which I was immensely grateful. Thankfully once I was in the shower I could no longer hear the infernal noise. The smell of my strawberry shampoo and the heat of the water relaxed all of my knotted muscles. By the time the hot water began to run out I was completely relaxed and, for some reason exceptionally happy.

I dressed quickly, throwing my long., damp hair up into a messy bun as I left the bathroom. I needed something to help me wake up. _COFFEE!_ My brain screamed at me, so I grabbed my wallet, phone and keys and walked out the door.

After triple checking that the door was locked I made my way to the stairs (I wasn't feeling lazy enough to use the elevator). Unluckily for me the stairs weren't the best option. I ended up having to wait for about five minutes to get down the last flight of stairs due to a completely disgusting 'mating ritual' (there are no other words to describe it) being performed by a couple in the middle of the staircase.

When I finally made it to the foyer Mrs. Cope was no longer at her desk. In her place sat a middle aged night guard reading some auto magazine.

Several rather inappropriately dressed girls poured themselves out of the elevator just as I walked past, almost knocking me over. I could tell, from their fashion sense and the death glares that they gave me, that we were not going to make much progress as friends, so I just kept walking.

"You're not going out alone, at this time of night, are you?" The guard asked, having just looked up from his magazine, as I walked by.

"I don't have anyone to go with." I pointed out. But before I could go much further he spoke again.

"But you can't go out alone," he protested. "It's late and this is LA. Anything could happen."

"I'll take my chances. I'm not going that far anyway." I distinctly remembered seeing the bright 'Coffee Shop' sign on my way in. It couldn't be more than five hundred feet from the dorm. "Besides, do you see anyone around here that I could walk with?" I asked. The trashy girls had left already and the foyer was once again empty of everyone except for the two of us. Naturally once the words were out of my mouth the elevator doors opened again revealing a small group of boys laughing hysterically.

"These guys will take you to where you've got to go." He said as he waved them over.

_Now I'm stuck with a bunch of delinquents. Great!_ I thought sarcastically.

"What can I do for you sir?" The biggest guy asked.

"This lovely young lady is going out and she needs an escort. It's too late to go out alone."

"Seriously I'm only going to get some coffee. I can practically see the shop for here." I insisted.

"Well we're going that way anyway. Don't worry Sweetie we'll get you there safely."

He tried to wrap his arm around my shoulders but I moved away. _What's wrong with this guy?_ The guard seemed happy now that I wasn't going anywhere alone and he left me with the freak. My _'escort'_ held the door open for me and I walked out, keen on getting away from him as soon as possible.

I walked through the campus as fast as I could, but he had no trouble keeping up with me. Well if I couldn't get away I was going to try and ignore him.

The campus, well what I could see of it in the dark, was beautiful. My dorm was one of the furthest from campus but I didn't mind. The buildings were tall and made of sandstone. The lack of natural light made it difficult to see the detail on the buildings but they were still beautiful.

Due to the late hour some people had already turned in, and the occasional beam of light coming from someone's window threw strange and wonderful shadows across the footpath.

"So what's your name Honey?" My annoying acquaintance asked drawing me from my revere.

"Marie," I answered. Hah! Did he really think I was going to tell him my real name? "And you are?"

"A friend." He stated.

_Okay that's creepy._ I thought. Luckily for me we were already outside the coffee shop.

"Well this is my stop. Bye." And with that I all but bolted inside only to stop a foot inside the doorway.

I thought shops like this only existed in movies. Each of the five walls, yes _five_ walls, was a different colour, and hung with some of the most beautiful canvas paintings I'd ever seen. Small tables littered the floor surrounded by an assortment of mismatched chairs, none of them were the same but they all seemed to fit together. The small number of people sit in the shop were also drinking from those huge bowl-sized cups.

_This is it_ I thought, _my new favourite place._ I made my way through the shop slowly so I could take in all whole scene. Behind the counter was a tiny girl with an abundance of brown curly hair. She was staring out the window looking bored.

I waited for a few moments to see if she would acknowledge my presence. _No need to be rude_. I thought. After a few more minutes she finally realized I was standing there.

She hitched an almost painful looking, fake smile onto her face trying, I think, to look friendlier. Her eyes remained cold and distant though which ruined the effect. Her name tag read 'Jessica'.

"What can I get cha'" She asked in a horrible whining voice. I was so distracted by her voice and appearance that she almost had to ask me twice.

"Sorry...just zoned out for a minute there," I apologized. "Um...One grande vanilla latte please?" The way she was staring at me caused it come out almost like a question.

"Mike." She called in a bored voice as she wrote down my order. A cute, baby-faced boy, with his hair gelled into orderly spikes appeared beside her.

"What do you want Jes..." He complained, but stopped as soon as he saw me.

"Coffee," Jessica answered, "That's your job isn't it? To make coffee when people ask for it." Obviously it had not been a good night for Jess.

"Huh...Oh yeah." He said, finally taking his eyes of me and beginning to make my drink.

I think he started to talk to me, but to be truly honest I wasn't paying much attention. I was staring at a small group of people sitting near the largest window. There were four of them, two boys and two girls. All of them were exceptionally beautiful.

I recognized the largest boy immediately; he was the one who helped me with my bags earlier. But I had no idea who the others were. Next to Emmett was probably the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen.

Everything about her was perfect. Her long golden hair flowed in cascades over her shoulders, finishing just above her waist. Her deep blue eyes were the same colour as the ocean and her beautiful figure wouldn't have looked out of place on the cover of a _Sports Illustrated _swimsuit issue.

The second boy could have been her twin. He had the same honey blond hair, blue eyes and perfect facial features. He was taller than Emmett and leaner, but still muscular.

The last individual sitting at their table was small and pixie-like. She was thin to the extreme, but this seemed to suit her. She had small features and her hair was a deep black, cropped short and pointing in every direction. This stood in stark contrast with her green eyes. On any normal person this combination might looks strange, but on her it only made her look more beautiful.

"Coffee's ready." Mike said, interrupting my ogling.

"Oh...Thanks." I said. I decided to get back to my dorm, before I did anything else to embarrass myself. I picked up my cup and headed for the door. But as I brought the cup to my mouth I noticed something on the side.

_No...He wouldn't...Would he?_ I looked at the side of my cup, and sure enough, there was Mike number. I laughed.

"Bella?" I knew that voice. I turned to see Emmett waving at me.

I waved back to acknowledge that I'd seen him and turned to leave.

"Wait! Come sit with us." The pixie called.

"Please?" She begged when I didn't move.

"Okay," I said as I walked over, "But I can't stay for long." I didn't want to interrupt them and that seemed like the best excuse.

"YAY!" She squealed as she bounced up and down in her seat, only to be restrained by the blond boy.

I looked around for a spare seat, but before I could move to get one she stood up. "Here, have my seat. I'll sit with Jazz." And with that she sat down in the blond's lap. So I took her newly vacated seat, feeling a lot like a fifth wheel.

"So what brings you out here so late miss Bella?" She asked.

"Coffee." I answered holding up my cup.

"I can see that," she complained. "What I meant was; why are you here alone?" She clarified.

"Oh...Well coffee sounded like the best way to wake up. And I'm here alone because I don't know anyone. The only person I know here at the moment is Emmett, because he helped me with my bags."

"What do you mean 'wake up'?"

"Bella just arrived from France. It's this little thing called 'jet lag' Alice maybe you've heard of it?" Emmett teased.

"Oh har har har Emmett." She retorted before turning to me. "I'm terribly sorry about him, but you know how big brothers get. Well actually maybe you don't. Anyway that's beside the point. Now if my brother has stopped being total idiot," She glared at Emmett,"It's time for proper introductions. Obviously Emmett didn't think it was important."

"Oh, sorry Bella. Well as you know I'm Emmett. This is my girlfriend Rosalie Hale," he pointed to the breathtaking blond beside him; she gave me a small smile. "That's Alice Cullen my baby sister," Alice waved to me. "And the only guy I trust to keep Alice in check. That's Jasper Hale Alice's boyfriend and Rosie's twin." Jasper waved to me as well.

So he was Rose's twin, _amazing powers of deduction there Bella._

"Now it's your turn. Tell us about yourself Bella."

"Well as you already know my name is Bella. I'm 18 and I just moved hear from France."

"You're so lucky," Alice pouted, "All those designers." Her eyes glazed over and she sighed.

"Calm down Ali." Jasper laughed as he shook her slightly. "You get to shop tomorrow." This considerably brightened Alice's mood.

We talked for a while about school and our classes, majors etc. Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper were all sophomores. Alice was a freshman like me.

Rosalie was a Mechanical Engineering major; Jasper was majoring in International Relations; Emmett was majoring in Physical/Health/Fitness and Education and Alice was a Fashion Design and Merchandising major.

They were all quite surprised when they found out about me being a Biochemistry/Molecular Biology major.

"You don't look like a science geek Bells." Emmett told me as we were walking back to the dorm. They all lived in the same dorm as I did just on different floors.

"You don't have to be a geek to like science." I countered.

"That's so true," Alice said, coming to my aid. "I mean look at Edward."

"Who's Edward?" They'd never mentioned him before now.

"He's our brother." Alice and Emmett said at the same time.

"You have another brother?"

"Yeah, but he didn't come out with us. He said he had other stuff to take care of." Alice didn't sound too happy about whatever his 'stuff' was. But I decided if they wanted me to know they would tell me, so I didn't push it.

By this time we were in the elevator going up to the second floor. To my surprise everyone got out on the same floor as me. Apparently Alice and Rose were in room 14B, just down the hall from my room.

Alice and Jasper and Rosalie and Emmett commenced their lovey dovey good bye scene so I decided to bow out. So with one last good bye I left them and walk back to my room.

As I closed the door I took out my phone. 10:30pm. WOW! Only one hour and already I had a whole group of new friends. This was going to be a very good year.

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A/N Sorry About this but I had to do another one:

_Let me know what you thought; Good? Bad? Alright? Let me know. If you hate it tell me why and I'll try and fix it PLEASE! Also: If you see any typos PLEASE let me know (PM, e-mail even put it in a review if you have to) I can't get better if I don't know what my mistakes are._

_And I'm just going to take this time to thank all those who reviewed, alerted or favourite-ed this story (last chapter): , love. for. a. lifetime (the spaces shouldn't be there but it wouldn't show up otherwise), OnMySide (:D), VaMpIrE giRL29, RoGueSurfer, Mormon-Girl13, Stupidlamb101, Crazy Sasha and last but not leats Where-the-wolf-runs. Thankyou! _

_And since it's Halloween; if any of you get the chance, I recommend you read SavageWoman's 'Halloween Costume Couplings'. It really good and funny. (It's in my favs list if you decide to check it out)._

_-Lou _


	3. Settling In

_Hey all you people reading this :D_

_Well all my exams have finished now so I'm officially finished school. WOOT! :S I don't know if I'm actually excited about this or not. At the moment I'm leaning towards not, but you didn't come here to read about my life, you came to read my story._

_Just one more thing before I start: I would like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter; love. for. a. lifetime, DooDeeDoooo, , and SavageWoman. Thanks heaps :D And thank you to everyone who put this on alert or fav-ed it._

**Disclaimer – Plot is mine, Charlotte is mine, Claude is mine, Alexandra is mine, and everything else belongs to Stephenie Meyer :D**

_And now for what you came to read; here is chapter 3 :D I hope it isn't too bad._

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Chapter 3 - Settling In

The blank walls were mocking me. Dull, boring beige walls, that's all there were. Not an ounce of colour anywhere. I'd been sitting on my extremely uncomfortable mattress for close to forty minutes now, just staring at these walls.

Thanks to my coffee - and the fact that it was approximately 7:30am back home - I was unable to get back to sleep.

Sure for the first 15 minutes my dorm room was really interesting. It was considerably larger then my room back home and to be honest I really did love it. But right now I needed stimulus and this room was severely lacking in that department.

I was so excited when I walked in after saying goodbye to Alice and the others. That was when I got the chance to really look at my room. The bathroom was off to the right-hand side of the door and my rather large closet was to the left.

I had opened the closet before, only to shut it equally as fast when I saw all the boxes I had to unpack. I swear I didn't have this much stuff before. The whole room had boxes scattered all around labeled with random things like; books, CDs, misc. I was hugely appreciative that I still had about a week before classes began in which to sort things out.

After you got past the small hallway created by my bathroom and closet, the real room opened up. My twin bed was push up against the wall on the right side of the room, leaving a large amount of floor space in the middle. On the other side of the room were a desk, bookcase and dresser. But the cherry on top was the large window seat, perfect for reading or just sitting.

From my window I had a perfect view of the courtyard that was situated between the two dorm buildings, not that I could see much this late at night. I also had a tree.

Yes a tree. It was quite tall; reaching to almost the next floor of the building and I was certain that if I opened the window I would be able to easily climb out onto one of the closer branches. Yes this was definitely my kind of university.

I had managed to pull all the boxes out of my closet and neatly line them up against the wall with the descriptions of their contents facing the middle of the room. All boxes marked 'clothes' had been emptied first; since Alex would kill me if I kept them in the boxes for even a second longer than necessary.

The boxes of my beloved books were begging to be opened and sorted, but I just didn't feel like doing anything. Which bring us back to me sitting on the bed, staring at the walls.

I looked at my phone again. 11:30pm. _Okay Bella this is stupid get up and do something!_ I pulled myself up off the bed and stretched my aching muscles before walking over to the mountain of boxes.

Halfway through unpacking all my books I went over to check my phone, which was sitting on my desk. That's when I saw it.

On top of my desk party obscured by a few other boxes was a hot pink packing box. How could I have missed that? I mean it was sitting right there on the desk practically screaming 'Look at me, yes me over here!' I immediately placed my battered copy of Wuthering Heights into this place and walked over to investigate.

Once I'd moved some of the other boxes from the desk to the floor I could see it more clearly. It looked just the same as all my other boxes except for the pink paint and the envelope that was taped to the top. Across the back of the envelope someone had scrawled my name in pink pen.

This must be the 'house-warming' present Alex had mentioned. Only she would think to paint the box pink. I smiled as I pulled the envelope off. Yep that was Alex's handwriting

Inside the envelope was even more pink pen. I sat down at the desk and began to read:

_Dearest Darlingest Bella,_

_We know how you hate it when people spend money on you, but this time we really much insist. In this box you will find all the necessary items you will need to make your dorm feel more like a home._

_One item which we have included is just as much for us as it is for you. You'll see why when you open up the box – if you haven't already done so._

_We hope to speak to you soon. Please don't forget us when you're spending all your time with your new American friends._

_Talk soon,_

_Lots of love,_

_Alex, Charlotte and Claude_

Ignoring the tears in my eyes I proceeded to rip open the 'care-package'. The box was full to the brim with a few necessities, and a whole lot of other objects. Alex – being the mad woman that she is – had attached a post-it note to every item explaining what it was to be used for and why she thought I would need it.

I doubted I would need some of the sillier items she had sent, but some would definitely come in handy. Like the first-aid kit with the note saying 'hope you don't need this right away, but I know you'll need it eventually'. And a framed photo of the four of us with a post-it that said 'So you won't forget us'.

This had always been my favourite photo of us. We were all lying in a heap on top of out stripped picnic rug, laughing hysterically. I laughed remembering the lazy day we had spent just lying in the park.

_Flashback – _

"'_You wouldn't think this would actually be this comfy huh guys?" Charlotte proclaimed as we relaxed in the park._

_Claude was lying underneath Alex; who had her head resting on his shoulder. I was resting my head on Alex's legs and Charlotte was lying with her head on Claude's legs and her feet propped up on my raised knees._

"_Yeah! I for one am very comfy." Alex's reply was slightly muffled by Claude's chest. "You make a really good pillow Claudy."_

"_Thanks Honey."_

"_I need a photo of us." Charlotte squealed._

"_I am not getting up." I yelled._

"_I wasn't suggesting one of us take it Silly Bella. I was thinking we could get _him_ to take it. That gives me an excuse to talk to him."_

_I raised my head to see who she was talking about. On the grass a few metres from where we were lying was a group of guys surrounded by several large backpackers._

_The youngest in the group was looking at us with a goofy grin plastered across his face._

"_Please tell me that you're not just going for him because of the shirt." Rainbow and tie dye, Charlotte's two favourite things when it comes to clothes._

"_Of course not." She argued, but her blush gave her away._

"_Alright missy, get Mr. Tie Dye over here." _

_Before the words were even out of my mouth she was waving him over. Judging from the super-sized backpacks – that everyone in his group seemed to have – and the casual attire, he was not a local._

_My suspicions were confirmed as soon as he started to talk. "What can I do for ya?" He had the strongest Australian accent I'd ever heard. _

"_We need someone to take a photo for us. Will you?" Charlotte pleaded, fluttering her eyelashes at him. He was caught of guard by her strong French accent. Normally it's the tourist that asks the locals to take photos, not the other way around._

"_Sure just show me how to work this thing." Charlotte then spent a few minutes showing him how to operate her flashy camera, flirting outrageously the whole time._

"_Okay, I think I've got it. Everybody say cheese." And he pulled the most ridiculous face causing everyone to burst out laughing. _

_One we had been successfully blinded by the camera's flash Charlotte left us to spend more time with her new 'friend'._

_End Flashback –_

I smiled at the photo before placing it on my nightstand. There was only on thing left in my box of goodies.

This item was wrapped though, with another envelope attached to it.

_As soon as you've finished working out how to use this, contact us._

That was all that the note said. I flipped the piece of card over, but there was nothing else to read. The box wasn't very heavy and it didn't make any sound when I shook it. I placed the card down and removed the paper.

This didn't help me understand though. The box had so much writing on it, none of which made any sense to me. I could tell it was something electrical but that was it. So I continued with my one man - well one woman actually - game of pass the parcel.

It wasn't until all the packaging was removed that I could actually tell what it was supposed to be. As soon as the light bulb went on my computer was out and my new webcam was hooked up.

Fifteen minutes later it was up and running.

I decided to try Alex first, since she was always online. This turned out to be my best idea yet. Five minutes, and several hundred pop-ups, later I was connected and the faces of my three best friends filled the screen.

"Hey Bella. We were beginning to thing you'd died or something. Seriously how long does it take to set up a webcam?"

I laughed, "It's great to see you too Charlotte."

"Don't give me that attitude missy," she scolded. "Where have you been?"

"I've been unpacking. And I only found the box about twenty minutes ago."

Charlotte opened her mouth to speak again but Alex cut her off. "Just ignore her Bella, its fine. So how's it going? You meet anyone new?"

"A few people." I admitted, knowing that my lack of detail would drive her crazy.

"What are they like?" She squealed.

The next half hour we spent discussing the Cullens and Hales, the campus and my dorm room – which Alex insisted I show her. Alex even made sure I showed her the closet so she could see whether I'd arranged my clothes correctly.

"You know you and Alice would probably have a lot of fun together Alex." I teased whilst trying to stifle a yawn.

"Bella, what time is it in LA?" Claude asked.

"I dunno, lemme check." I glanced at my phone. "About 1 o'clock. Why?"

"Are you serious Bella?" Alex sounded (and looked) shocked.

"Yep." I said popping the 'p'.

"You go to bed right now young lady. You should have told us it was so late."

"It fine, really." I assured them.

"BED NOW!" They yelled in unison.

"Alright, don't be so bossy. If you wanted me to go all you had to do was ask."

We all said our goodbyes and signed off.

_The books can wait_. I thought to myself as I lay back on the bed. I was kind of tired.

I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

* * *

BANG!

My eyes snapped open. _What's going on?_

The sunlight was streaming through the open curtains.

BANG!

It sounded like someone was trying to breakdown my door. I unwillingly rolled out of bed and walked to the door.

BANG!

"Alright, alright I'm coming. What the hel..." Outside my door was a group of four people.

"Morning Bells." Emmett yelled, his fist still raised in the air as if he meant to 'knock' again.

"Not to sound rude, but what do you guys want?"

This time it was Alice who answered. "We're going to breakfast and then we're going SHOPPING!" She squealed so loud we all had to cover our ears.

"Why aren't you dressed?" Rosalie asked.

I looked down at myself. I was still wearing the same outfit I had worn last night on my 'coffee excursion'. "Oh!" Was all I could think of to say.

"Don't worry Bella, we'll have you ready in no time," Alice promised. "Jazz, Em go and find something to do for half an hour or so."

They both seemed resigned to their task and turned to walk away. I think I heard Emmett say something along the lines of, "You still own me a rematch on that arm wrestle."

"Bella. Shower. Now." Alice demanded pushing me into the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later I immerged to find an outfit set out on my bed and an Alice inside my closet practically drooling over some of my clothes.

"Bella you do realize that she may never leave your closet?" Rosalie commented as I took my clothes into the bathroom and changed.

"You're both welcome to borrow anything you like." I assured them while I brushed my teeth.

"Are you serious Bella?" Alice was now wearing one of my blazers while twirling around the rest of my room.

"Yes I'm serious. I can only wear one outfit at a time."

"Thank you," Alice hugged me so tightly I almost couldn't breathe.

"You ready to go now?"

"As ready as I'm going to be."

With that Alice and Rose each grabbed one of my hands and pulled me out of the door. _This was going to be a very long day._

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Reviews make me happy :D So let me know what you think.


	4. Shopping With Alice

_So I don't really have much to say before this chapter. Just that this is what you get when you're stuck on an hour long train trip to 'the Rif'._

_**Disclaimer: Plot = mine, Steph owns the rest :D**_

_So with out further adieu…Chapter 4_

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**Chapter 4 - Shopping with Alice**

"Alice!" I whined, "Can't we go back now?" We'd been shopping for nearly six hours, and Alice showed no signs of stopping any time soon.

"We're almost done Bella." She promised as she dragged me into yet another clothing store. If someone told me that there were still more stores in this mall that we hadn't visited at least once today I would have a hard time believing them.

All the _necessary_ items were purchased. I had a new mattress, a small silver mini fridge, a microwave, a kettle and a super cool bedside lamp. Alice also insisted that I buy other items. Yes I know shampoo and body wash is a key part of every girl's bathroom arsenal, but I still don't see why I needed five different fragrances. My strawberry shampoo was just fine for me. I also had a new bathrobe, a rug, for the bare space in my room, and several funky cushions to go with my new bedspread.

Emmett and Jasper knew better than to ask questions when Rosalie and Alice shopped. They just tagged along, carrying our bags and nodding in agreement every time their girlfriends as their opinion on an outfit. Occasionally they would humor Rose and Alice and, unwillingly, try on some clothes themselves, but mostly they just let Alice run free – dragging Rose and I after her.

Finally, after another half hour, Alice swiped her last credit card for the day and declared that it was time to go home. By this time Jasper and Emmett were carrying so many bags I was afraid their arms would fall off.

"Alice are you sure we need all this stuff?" I asked as we loaded the bags into Emmett's Jeep. Alice had paid extra for us to have our mattresses and other appliances/furniture delivered before we got back.

"Yes we do. Honestly Bella, why can't you just enjoy shopping like a normal person?"

Jasper coughed and she glared at him. "Let me rephrase; why can't you just enjoy shopping like a normal _girl_." She poked her tongue out at Jasper and he smiled.

"Shopping is fine Alice, just not for six and a half hours." I complained as I clambering into the back of Emmett's jeep. "I think my blisters have blisters."

"Isabella Swan you are honestly one of the craziest girls I know." And with that she pranced off to her Porsche.

"Next time Bella, just smile and pray to god that our parents, one day, will finally take away her credit cards." Emmett called from the front seat. "Although I imagine she'd find some way to continue to shop without them." He seemed to be talking more to himself than to me now so I tuned him out.

I stared out the window watching the city, then the campus fly by. Alex was a pretty hardcore shopper, but nothing could have prepared me for Alice. That girl seriously puts the Energizer bunny to shame.

Since speed limits seem to have no meaning for either Alice or Emmett so we made it back to the dorms in record time. Mrs. Cope ensured us that our mattresses and other items had been delivered earlier this afternoon and that all the old items had been removed.

And now we were sitting in Alice and Rose's room watching 'The Devil Wears Prada' and eating popcorn. Alice and Rose were commenting on the outfits and Jasper was laughing at Emmett's over exaggerated impersonation of Nigel. I have to admit Emmett makes one hell of a funny homosexual.

I was having so much fun, but sadly my attempts to stifle my yawns were not yielding the desired results, so I decided to call it a night. I looked at my new watch - another thing Alice had insisted I buy today – 5:30pm. A little too early for bed but then again there wasn't anything, that I was aware of, that I had to do.

"I think it's time I called it a night." I declared, yawning again.

"Awwww! You can't go now; we were just about to start 'She's The Man'." Alice complained waving the DVD in front of my face. "Please? Just one more movie?" She pouted.

"Don't look at me like that Alice. 'The pout' will get you nowhere." I had become only too familiar with 'the pout' during our shopping trip. That's how she managed to force me into a pare of six inch heals. Needless to say after almost breaking my neck – and the heel of the shoe - when I fell onto the shop assistant, I am now completely immune to 'the pout'.

"On the contrary my dear; it gets me everywhere and anything I want. Right Jazz?" She asked as she fluttered her eyelids at her boyfriend.

It took him a few minutes to respond, but eventually he shook his head and answered. "It's true Bells. I have yet to find someone who can resist Ali's charm." And with that he opened his arms causing Alice to jump into his lap.

"Well it seems Alice can't resist your 'charm' Jazz.' Emmett laughed, punching him in the arm, with considerable force.

"Either way I'm leaving, and 'the pout' is not going to stop me." I turned and walked out the door.

"Bye Bel…" They chorused, only to be cut off by Alice's phone.

_Put on your__ brake lights  
We're in the city of wonder  
Ain't gonna play nice  
Watch out, you might just go under  
Better think twice  
Your train of thought will be altered  
So if you must faulter be wise  
Your mind is in disturbia  
It's like the darkness is the light  
Disturbia  
Am I scaring you tonight  
Disturbia  
Ain't used to what you like  
Disturbia  
Disturbia_

"Hello?" Was the last thing I heard before the door swung closed.

I wasn't really paying much attention to where I was going, so I was taken unawares when the door to the stairs was flung open and someone stepped out. My reflexes –like those of most accident prone individuals – aren't the best; so I collided with someone. They were really hard so I sort of bounced off and true to my nature I was falling towards the ground. But before I could make contact, two strong arms were already pulling me to my feet.

"Oh! I'm so sorry. I didn't see you…and the door…opened…Sorry." I apologized as I tried to stay upright – my sense of equilibrium almost deserting me – all the while blushing a shade of red that would make fire engines jealous. I was too embarrassed to look up so I just stared at the ground.

"It's fine." Was his short reply. He had the most beautiful voice I'd ever heard; like velvet and honey. "Just pay more attention next time." And with the he walked past me down the hallway from which I'd just emerged.

Once he was past me I quickly looked over my shoulder. All I could see was a mop of messy bronze hair as he disappeared into a room.

"Okay?" I said to the empty hallway.

Shortly after the 'incident' I managed to get to my dorm room, pushing aside the bags of shopping Emmett and I had just chucked into the room earlier. My new mattress was in place. Emmett and Jasper had already placed my fridge and microwave in the corner of the room and my funky blue rug was spread across the floor.

I pulled my new sheets, pillows etc out of my bags and began to make my bed. Today I actually changed out of my clothes and pulled the blinds before climbing in though.

_Ah sleep! Sweet, sweet sleep._ I thought snuggling down into the bed, which I might add was a thousand times more comfortable with my new mattress.

I was almost completely asleep when it happened.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

"You've got to be kidding me." I yelled as the noise from last night once again interrupted my sleeping patterns.

I crawled out of bed and shuffled over towards the wall. "TURN IT OFF!" I pounded on the wall between us. There was no change in the volume.

_My neighbours must be boys!_ I thought.

I gave them ten minutes to either turn the music off or at least to turn it down, before I took more drastic action. It was their choice, but either way I was going to get some sleep.

Ten minutes came and went, but the noise only seemed to get louder.

_That's it!_

I walked out of my room and down the hallway and before I knew it I was hammering on the door of room 27B.

"What?" Someone's muffled reply reached my ears.

"Open up!" I 'knocked' again.

"Alright, alright keep your pants o…" The door opened revealing someone I didn't expect. Not that I expected to know anyone living in the dorm – with the exception of Emmett, Rose, Jasper and Alice – but I never even entertain the possibility that I would be him.

Now that I think of it though, this is exactly the kind of thing he would do.

"Hey!" He said in a really disgusting and suggestive way.

"Don't 'hey' me buddy." I said sounding a lot more confident than I really was. I'm normally a very shy person but right now - taking into account the lack of sleep and the person standing in front of me – I was feeling quite unfriendly. "Turn the damn music off, or at least turn it down.

"Anything for you Honey."

"If you call me that one more time I'm seriously going to scream. You have no idea how freaky that is." He looked sad.

"We seem to have got off on the wrong foot here. Can't we start over?"

"Not unless you do something about the noise." I countered.

"Fine! Embry turn the damn music off." He yelled. I could see one of his friends walking over a turning the music down. "Better?" He asked.

"Yes, thanks." I sighed. "So where were we? Something about your feet right?" Now that the music was off I was more then willing to be civil.

He laughed. "Oh right…Jacob Black." He held his hand out. "You're Marie right?"

Now it was my turn to laugh. I had forgotten I didn't give him my real name. "No, actually my name is Bella. I just told you that was my name last night hoping you'd leave me alone."

"Sorry I didn't seem to have received that memo."

"Well Jakey boy you were never the most perceptive guy." His friend said coming up behind him. "Embry Call." He stated offering me his hand.

"Bella Swan. Nice to meet you." He looked at me stunned. "What?" I asked beginning to feel self-conscious.

"Where are you from?"

"And that's important because?"

"Your accent." He stated, "French?"

"Oh! Yeah I used to live in France. But I don't have an accent."

"Yes you do." They chorused.

I opened my mouth to argue but thought better of it. Two against one aren't good odds.

"Fine; whatever you say."

"So you don't like my music Bella?" Embry asked changing the subject.

"I couldn't care less what you listen to, but right now I want to sleep."

"Well hurry up and sleep then." He joked pushing me towards my room.

"See you later Bells." Jacob called. "Oh wait, Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"The teddy bear PJs are really stylish." He laughed.

I looked down at my self and sure enough there they were. My super comfy pink pajamas with teddy bears and love hearts all over them. My face became redder than the hearts as I ran back into my room, slamming the door behind me. I could still hear Jacob and Embry chuckling to themselves.

I heard foot steps outside my door before someone knocked. "Bells? Don't worry no one saw and I've seem worse believe me. And Embry has the memory span of a gold fish so he'll never remember it anyway. Your secret is safe with me." After a few moments I heard him walk away.

Well maybe he wasn't so bad after all. Only time will tell.

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_So it's now time for you to tell me what you think. Well actually I can't make you tell me but I really would like to know. Please?_

_Thanks to my reviewers: SavageWoman (read her stories they're fabulous), TwilightSagaLover543 (Read and review her story 'I Don't Know You, But I Think I Love You'), love. for. a .lifetime (Read and review her story), Moonlight Party (She hasn't posted any stories but she's still awesome for reviewing), rayne. love (Read some of her stuff), RUTryingToIrritateMeToDeath (Go…Look…Read) and my darling Amoiy (Who used to be OnMySide). Thanks everyone._

_And thanks to all those who haven't reviewed but have put me on Alert of Fav._

_Hope you all like this chapter :D_


	5. Edward Cullen

_My apologies for the wait:_

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns the characters, I'm just having fun.**

**Chapter 5 – Edward Cullen**

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"I am now officially moved in." I declared as I walked into Alice's room and flopped down on her bed.

"Really?" Alice squealed as she ran out of the bathroom towards her closet. "Oh this is so exciting. You should come out with us and celebrate."

Rose's voice floated out from the bathroom. "Yeah Bella come out with us."

"I'd love to but I don't fancy being the fifth wheel tonight."

"You wouldn't be a fifth wheel Bella. Come on it'll be fun." Alice had now moved back to the bathroom and was helping Rose with her hair. They had been preparing for their double date all afternoon. Alice alone had changed her outfit about twelve times and then she changed Rose's outfit at least five times as well.

"No really you lovebirds will have so way more fun without me."

"Well we'll go out and celebrate tomorrow night then. Emmett and Jasper have practice, but they should be finished around seven-ish." Alice already had her phone out and was dialing Jasper's number.

"Don't forget to invite Edward." Rose called.

I turned to Alice, but she was speed-talking to Jasper so I went to see Rose. "Edward's here?" This was news to me.

"Yeah, he arrived the other day when we went shopping. He came over but you'd already left."

"Oh!"

"But you guys said you were really close. I'm pretty much with you all day every day; shouldn't I have seen him by now?"

"Nah, he's too busy moving in. Honestly why someone needs that many CDs I'll never know." She laughed and continued to apply her lipstick.

"Okay, I told them to dress nice and meet us here at seven thirty. I couldn't get a hold of Edward but Emmett said he'd pass on the info. Now Bella about your outfit…"

I cut her off. "Come over before you want to start getting ready and choose it yourself."

"YAY! So Rose you'll need your…"

When Rose and Alice started talking hair and shoes I decided it was my time to bow out. They still tried to persuade me to go out with them but I finally managed to convince them that they would have much more fun without me. They promised to come over tomorrow to organize our celebrations.

I looked down at my watch; it was 7:00pm so I made my way downstairs to get some food. In the week that I'd been here I had become quite familiar with my surroundings. Of course when most of your friends are sophomores you have an upper hand with shortcuts etc.

The dinning hall was pretty full when I arrived. I was just about to turn and go back to the dorms and get some of the leftover pizza – that Alice and I hadn't finished last night - when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I spun around so fast I almost gave myself whiplash. There standing in front of me was the boy from the coffee shop.

"Hey!" Hey said.

"Um…Hi?" It came out almost as a question. _Why is he talking to me?_ I thought. I turned around and began to walk away towards the dorms, but he kept pace easily.

"Why are you leaving? You only just got here." Was he watching me?

"It's busy, and I don't have to explain myself to you."

I thought he got the hint after that. "So why didn't you call me?" Apparently not.

_Just play it dumb Bella. _"Call you?" I asked, trying to sound confused.

"Yeah, when you came into the coffee shop I gave you my number."

"You did?" In my book writing on someone beverage doesn't quality as giving them your number.

"Yeah it was on the side of your cup." He countered.

"I didn't see it." Was my short reply. His face fell ever so slightly.

"Well this is my stop," I said when we reached the dorm. "Bye Mike." I made a show of waving goodbye. This time he got the picture and left. I let out a sigh of relief.

People were lined up outside the elevator so I took the stairs. People in this place are pretty lazy let me tell you. I got to the landing between the first and second floor and I saw a pretty girl with long brown hair gathering up a pile of scattered books. Several of them had fallen off the landing and down the stairs so I gathered them up before tapped her on the shoulder to hand them over.

She hadn't noticed me until that moment and my sudden movement startled her and caused her to drop the books she had picked up.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," I said bending down to help her again.

"It's fine." She insisted as she stood up with the mountain of books in her hands. "I should have known to make two trips from the store."

"You're taking Biology and Chemistry too?" I asked recognizing the heavy textbooks. I had my own copies sitting on my desk.

"Yeah…um I'm Angela, Angela Weber. I'd shake your hand but I don't have any spare limbs." She joked.

I laughed. "Bella Swan. Do you want me to carry some of these?" I gesture to the books which looked like they were going to crush her any minute now.

She smiled. "I love some help." I took half the pile and we continued up the stairs towards the second floor.

"What room number?" I asked as we passed my room.

"32B." She called as she came to a stop outside a door on the opposite side of the corridor to mine. She placed her books down and fished around in her bag for her keys, before opening the door.

Her room was slightly bigger than mine and there were two beds instead of one. Everything on one side of the room was either pink or purple. Sheets, lamps, posters, absolutely everything. It was horrible.

Angela noticed my horrified expression and laughed. "Come put the books down Bella your arms will fall off otherwise." I snapped out of my reverie and glanced over the where Angela was sitting.

Her side of the room was decorated in various shades of blue. _This is more like it._ I thought as I placed the books down on the desk next to the rest.

"Angela you have much better taste." I informed her.

"Yeah, I think so too. But Jess is entitled to decorate her side as she sees fit. It's one of the rules." She pointed to a long list tacked to the back of the door.

"She seriously made up rules?" I asked. Angela just nodded.

I walked over and began to read. Most of the rules were pretty stupid if you ask me. Take number 32 for example:

#32. Keep your side of the room clean so that when I have friends over I won't get embarrassed.

I glanced over at Jessica's side of the room. At first glance there is too much pink and purple that you don't see much else, but if you look again you see much more. Her clothes were messily piled on top of her bed – which was unmade – her shoes were scattered everywhere and her closet didn't look like it could be closed. Everything was a mess.

I continued to read. "What's the," I made quotes with my fingers, "'Scrunchy system'?"

Angela just laughed then pointed to the door knob. "You see the three scrunchies hanging off the door?"

"Uh huh."

"Well there for when people come over," She got up and pulled them off. "Red is the go-away-I-have-friends-over-and-don't-want-to-be-disturbed scrunchy. Yellow is the I-have-a-boy-in-here-and-we-are-'busy'-do-not-disturb scrunchy. And black is…" She threw it from her as if it carried some deadly disease.

"Basically if any of this stuff applies you hang it on the door outside, so your roomie knows what's happening and doesn't walk in on anything…unpleasant."

"What if someone steals them?" I grabbed the scrunchies from her.

"Then that's Jessica's problem. It's not like I'm going to use them." Angela laughed.

Suddenly the door was roughly pushed opened revealing the short girl from the coffee shop. I thought I heard Angela mutter something hat sounded like "Speak of the devil," before walking over to her desk. Jessica just stared at me.

After a while I began to feel uncomfortable. "Bye Ang." I called before hurrying out of the room, placing the scrunchies on the desk near the door as I went.

"Time to get ready Bella!" Alice called as she pranced into my room the following day.

* * *

"Alice we have aaaaaaages to get ready. Calm down." She had already disappeared into my closet and was rummaging through the garments. After a few minutes she stopped and let out a loud sigh.

"As lovely as all your clothes are my Bella, there is no appropriate clothing here for where we're going. But these shoes are perfect." She exclaimed as she ran out, shoes in hand, but she was into the bathroom before I could see what shoes she was talking about.

About thirty seconds later she reappeared - bathrobe and shoes in hand - and grabbed my arm before dragging me out of the room.

"Where are we going? And why aren't my clothes good enough?"

"We're going out to this new club that just opened up near campus, and your clothes aren't…exciting enough for clubbing." By now we were back in Alice's room and after having a towel and my robe thrown at me, I was ushered towards the bathroom by Rose.

If they were going to torture me then I was going to take my time in the shower, so waited twenty minutes before I left the bathroom.

"About time you came out Bella." They chorused.

"So which instrument of torture are you subjecting me to first?" I said eyeing the hair curler and beauty products lined up on top of Alice's bureau.

They just ignore my comment and forced me into a chair in front of the mirror before getting to work. Alice started on my makeup while Rose 'attacked' my hair with the curler.

"So how was last night? I didn't get a chance to ask before."

"It was great…" Alice then proceeded to give me a minute by minute recount of the entire evening; Rose just nodded in agreement occasionally adding a tiny detail that Alice my have forgotten.

Apparently Emmett and Jasper had taken them to a fancy Italian restaurant and then the boys carried them along the beach. Originally it was supposed to be one of those romantic-walk-down-the-beach-in-the-moonlight things, but Alice was too tired, so Jasper carried her. I thought it was so cute.

After close to forty minutes Alice applied the last swipe of eyeliner and Rose dropped my last curl. Somewhere in this whole beautifying process my chair had been turned around so I couldn't look at myself in the mirror.

"Now Bella get dressed." Alice ordered pointing to the outfit she's arranged for me which was lying on her bed.

"Alice I'm going to ruin all Rose's hard work on my hair trying to get into this." I held up the tiny purple halter top she expected me to wear. "And where's the rest of the shirt?"

"Bella that is the whole shirt and don't worry, put on the skirt first and your shoes then we'll help you with the shirt when we're done here." They already had their makeup on and Alice was just finishing Rose's hair.

_Why can they get ready so fast?_

After twenty more minutes I finally managed to get the 'shirt' over my head. Then Alice made me put on more lip-gloss. I was really anxious to see what I looked like now but Rose said she wasn't done with my hair.

* * *

Finally the last clip was in place and I was allowed to turn around. My jaw hit the floor. Alice and Rose had achieved the impossible. I looked good.

Alice's chosen outfit, although in my opinion it was a little too revealing, accentuated my curves and made my legs look like they went for miles. The purple beaded shirt showed most of my flat stomach and a decent amount of cleavage, but I was nothing compared to the outfits I'd seen on some of the other girls when they went out. My skirt was tight, black and it finished in the middle of my thigh. My boots – the only part of my outfit that was actually mine – Were black, leather knee-highs. They had just enough heel to give me a small amount of extra height, but not enough to make me fall over.

My makeup was simple but pretty. Alice had used dark purple eyeliner and eye shadow to achieve a smokey effect. She said my lips were the perfect colour already so she only made me wear a clear gloss instead of lipstick. My hair flowed down over one shoulder and I had a large butterfly shaped clip holding it in place.

"WOW!" Was all I could think to say. I was completely stunned.

"You look great Bells." Rose and Alice have each other dainty high fives behind me.

Alice was wearing a beautiful shimmery black baby-doll dress and her spiky hair was perfectly arranged to accommodate several small jewel clips. Rosalie was wearing a skin-tight red dress which left nothing to the imagination and her hair was arranged in a similar fashion to mine only she had a large red rose instead of a butterfly.

Alice's phone rang and she sprinted over to retrieve it.

"Hello?...Uh huh…sure…see you then…bye Jazzy." And she hung up. "The guys will be here soon. Well Emmett and Jazz anyway."

"Here's your bag Bella." Rose threw a purple sequined clutch at me and I quickly stuffed my keys, money, phone etc, inside.

Alice came over and straightened my shirt just as someone knocked on the door.

"Are you sure about this Alice?" I was beginning to have second thoughts about the whole Bella Barbie scenario. _Too late to turn back now Bella._

"Bella you look fabulous." Rose called as she opened the door and went to greet Emmett and her brother.

"Come on Bella." And with that Alice pulled me out of the room.

"Girls…" Emmett whined.

"What?" Alice and Rose retorted, at the same time.

"It's hard enough keeping the other guys off the two of you and now you've gone and added a third and dressed like this." He gestured towards my outfit. "Not that you don't look great Bells; you do…" He trailed off.

Jasper wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "Calm down Em. Well all help keep Bella safe."

"Where's Edward?" Rose asked

"He said he'd meet up with us at the club after dinner." Emmett replied as we made our way towards the elevator. "Something about, organizing classes or something…I dunno."

* * *

"Emmett, how can you eat that much and not be physically ill?" I asked as we left the restaurant an hour later and started walking towards the club.

"It's a talent Bella," He boasted rubbing his stomach.

"Anyway, you try doing one of our sessions and then tell me you couldn't eat a horse."

"Don't you mean a cow? You ate like four steaks."

He opened his mouth to say something else but Alice cut him off. "We're here!"

We were outside the doors of a huge club. The whole building – all two stories of it - was painted a very dark blue. On the ground floor there were only the front doors, but the walls of the second floor were covered in windows, of all shapes and sizes, throwing random beams of coloured light onto the pavement.

"Um Alice, doesn't the line start back there." I pointed towards the, extremely, long line of people that stretched the length of the block and then disappeared around the corner.

"Not for us." Alice chimed gesturing towards the muscly bouncer. "This is Tyler. He's on the team with Emmett and Jazz." I caught the briefest hit of a smile on Tyler's face before she grabbed my hand and dragged me into the club.

The whole ground floor was practically a dance floor with one wall set aside for the bar. There were a few booths at the back of the club but everyone was dancing so they were left vacant. The second floor was just a wide balcony with a few tables and chairs, but there were some people dancing up there too.

"You want to dance Bella?" Alice yelled over the music.

"I'll kill someone." I yelled back.

"No, no, no, we promise to take care of you Bella. Pretty please?" Rose begged pulling on my arm.

"Fine! But I take no responsibility for any broken bones or other injuries that may occur."

"YAY!"

After half an hour of awkward – on my part – dancing Emmett and Jasper came to join us.

"You mind if we steal our girlfriends for a bit Bells?" Emmett asked.

"Be my guest." I motioned for him the proceed. "I'm going to get some water. Any of you want anything?"

"Nah, we're fine for now."

After much pushing and shoving I made it to the bar. The stuffy air in the club was beginning to make me feel uncomfortable but the water helped a little.

"Hey beautiful!" I looked over at the owner of the voice. He was good looking and I'm sure he could have been a nice person, but he was too drunk to make a good first impression.

"Hey?" I walked away hoping he wouldn't follow me.

"So you wanna dance Sugar?"

"No thanks, I'm fine."

"Damn right you are. Come on, just one dance?" He made to grab my arm but someone stepped between us.

"I think you should leave now." The drunken guy looked kind of scared and he quickly departed.

"You alright there Bella?" My 'savior' asked.

"I'm fine…um how do you know my name?"

"Oh sorry. I'm Logan," He held out his hand, "I'm on the Emmett and Jasper's football team. They sent me over to help you out."

At sometime during our conversation everyone else had arrived. They scared me half to death when the all yelled "You alright Bella?" At almost the same time.

"Yeah I'm perfectly fine…" That was when I was him

Standing at the back of the group was the most beautiful man I'd ever seen. His hair was the most extraordinary shade of bronze and it was messed up like he'd just finished running his fingers through it. What I could see of his body – which wasn't obscured by Emmett or Jasper – was pretty impressive too. He had broad shoulders, and a toned upper body - which could be seen through his shirt – He wasn't over muscled like Emmett but he was no string bean that's for sure.

But I think his most beautiful, definitely the most captivating, feature was his eyes. They were the colour of emeralds and his pale skin made them stand out even more.

It took me a while to realize that I was staring at him and by the time I snapped out of it everyone was following my gaze.

"Oh you guys haven't met have you?" Alice asked looking form my face to his. "How rude of us not to introduce you. Bella Swan meet Edward Cullen our brother/friend. Edward meet Be…"

"We've met before." He told her.

"You have?"

"Well it was more like we ran into each other, in the literal sense." He smirked.

I wanted the ground to open up and shallow me right then and there. _Oh my god! He's the guy from the stairs?_ Heat flooded my cheeks and I ducked my head looking at my shoes. I could tell they were still conversing but I was too mortified to notice anything else that was said.

"Bella?" Logan shook my shoulder gently after a few minutes.

"Sorry, I zoned out."

"I asked if you wanted to dance?" He repeated.

"O-okay." _He has no idea what he's getting himself into._

_

* * *

_

_Now december found the love that we shared in september.  
Only blue talk and love,  
Remember the true love we share today _

_Ba de ya - say do you remember  
Ba de ya - dancing in september  
Ba de ya - never was a cloudy day _

_Ba de ya - say do you remember  
Ba de ya - dancing in september  
Ba de ya - golden dreams were shiny days_

The song drifted to an end.

Alice and Emmett were 100% hilarious when they danced. They were so different in size but they were so in time. I was having so much fun, but all the close packed gyrating bodies, the lack of fresh air and the smell of alcohol was starting to get to me.

"Alice?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to get some air, okay?"

"Well come with you," She promised. "Just let me get Rose. I'll be two seconds."

I was beginning to feel dizzy and claustrophobic. I couldn't wait for Alice. I pushed my way through the crowd determined on get to the nearest exit as soon as possible.

_Need air! Can't breath!_

Finally I managed to get outside through an open door on one side of the dance floor. I didn't know where I was and I didn't' care all I could focus on was trying to pull air into my lungs. But my effort weren't yielding any results.

My vision was slightly warped like I was looking the wrong way through binoculars. Black spots erupted in front of my eyes and my knees gave out.

I vaguely remember someone yelling something before I drifted into unconsciousness.

_

* * *

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Dun dun duh!

_Well I had to have something happen or you all would have fallen asleep on me :D Sorry it took so long. But in my defense this is one of the longest chapters I've ever written. The song was 'September' By Earth Wind and Fire :D_

_What do you think? Was it worth the wait? I hope you liked it._

_Let me know in the form of a **REVIEW**!_

_How many of you thought Logan was Edward?_

_Thank you for everyone who reviewed the last chapter: morganator9939, TwilightSagaLover543, Amoiy, vanillaswirl27, SavageWoman, Moonlight Party, Elizabeth Volterra, chelmo, , AlicesShoppingBuddie, EdWarded and Zoey Redbird. Thank guys :D_

_Oh and sorry to CortneyJ143 (who apparently checks like 100 time a day for updates) I tried to get it up earlier but life never works the right way :D_


	6. Bella Swan

_Hey everyone! So I was going to update yesterday as an 'I'm-now-18-and-I-want-people-to-be-happy-like-me' thing, but my family had other plans. So this is now a My-birthday-was-yesterday-and -tomorrow-is-my-Yr12-formal-and-I'm-trying-to-take-my-mind-of-the-fact-that-all-you-American-people-get-to-see-Twilight-before-me thing. Okay? Okay!_

_Here you go; Chapter 6_

**Disclaimer: -sniff- Twilight is not mine -sniff- I don't know who owns Logan but he's in lots of stuff that I've read on here :D**

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Chapter 6 – Bella Swan

**EPOV**

"Emmett! I'll get there when I can okay?" God brothers are so annoying sometimes. I'd been on the phone for a quarter of an hour listening to him try and convince me to go out with him tonight. Apparently they were going out with Rose and Alice's new friend to celebrate something. I was only agreeing to get him to shut up.

"_Come on man, school hasn't started yet. You can't be that busy."_

"I've still got stuff to sort out." This wasn't really true but it gave me an excuse to postpone the embarrassment that would result for being in a club with Emmett and Alice. I shuddered at the thought.

"_What stuff Eddie? Classes don't start until Monday and everyone will have gone home by now." _

"I'll get there when I can. Bye!"

"_Ed…"_ I hung up on him.

_This is going to be a very long night._

* * *

Two hours later I was in the car on my way to the club. Emmett's jeep wasn't in the lot, but Alice had assured me that they were going to be there. I got out and decided to call and check anyway.

"_Edward?"_ Someone yelled, I could here loud music thumping away in the background.

"Alice?"

"_When are you going to get here?"_

"I'm outside. I was just checking to see if you had arrived yet." I could hear a shuffling sound coming through the phone. What was she doing?

Someone grabbed my arm from behind.

"Let's go Eddie boy." Alice squealed as she pulled me inside, completely ignoring the line of people waiting outside. As soon as we got inside Alice started jumping up and down as she walked. But it wasn't her usual hyperactive-bouncy walk.

"What are you doing Alice?"

"Not all of us are 6' 2" mister." Oh, she was looking for someone. I laughed and looked around for her.

"If you're looking for Jasper, try that direction." I pointed to the right where I could see Emmett and Jasper.

"I knew there was a reason I kept you around." She smiled sweetly then started dragging me in the direction I had pointed.

"Hey everyone look who I found outside." She yelled when we reached everyone else.

Emmett, Rose and Jasper were standing with a tall, buff guy with red hair. I knew he was pat of Emmett's team but I couldn't remember his name. The all turned to look at me and smiled.

"Hey, you made it." Emmett boomed.

"Of course, wouldn't want to miss out on spending so much quality time with my favourite brother." I smirked at him.

"Yeah right Eddie." He knew I hated it when he called me that.

"Don't ca…" He wasn't paying attention to me anymore. He was looking, more like scowling, at someone or something over my shoulder.

"Sorry Edward…Logan?"

"Huh?" The red-head guy looked over.

"See the brunette over there?"

"Yup!"

"Wanna go help her out."

"Will do Capitan." He made mock salute and walked away.

My eyes followed his retreating back. Over in the corner a drunken frat boy was harassing a pretty brunette girl. She looked familiar but I couldn't remember where I'd seen her before.

Logan made it over to her just as the drunk made a grab at her. He said something, I don't know what, but it caused the guy to back off.

"Come on!" Alice called herding us; there was no other word for it, over to Logan and her new friend.

I couldn't stop staring at the girl; she was even more beautiful up close. But from my experience, dating Tanya, I had learnt that looks were, most definitely, not the most important thing.

It was obvious that Alice and Rose had dressed her tonight and from the way she stood there with her arms wrapped around her she wasn't comfortable with that fact. She really did look fabulous though; she could wear an old potato sack and still look beautiful. She was of average height and she had one of the nicest figure I'd seen in a long time.

Her hair was long and waved down to the middle of her back. I couldn't tell what colour it was due to the pulsing lights in the club, but I think it was brown. Her skin was pale and the contrast was very flattering. The huge butterfly pinning her hair back was very fitting. She was equally as beautiful as any butterfly I'd ever seen and she looked just a delicate.

Her eyes were definitely the most beautiful of all her perfect features. They were nothing but huge brown pools of chocolate. I felt as though I could stand there forever just letting myself get lost in their infinite depths.

I soon realized the only reason I could see them so clearly was because she was staring straight at me. I felt like I should look away but I just couldn't. Eventually she shook her head and blushed. It suddenly hit me. This was the girl from the stairs that I'd almost run over.

I looked up and noticed everyone staring at us. It was quite comical actually, the way their head swiveled from side to side, almost like they were watching a tennis match.

"Oh you guys haven't met have you?" Alice asked the girl. "How rude of us not to introduce you. Bella Swan meet Edward Cullen our brother/friend. Edward meet Be…"

"We've met before." I informed Alice.

"You have?" She seemed surprise.

"Well it was more like we ran into each other, in the literal sense." Laughed, but I think I can across as an ass, judging from the way everyone looked at me.

Bella's eyes widened before she cast them down and started to 'study' her shoes, but this didn't stop me from seeing the second blush that swept across her cheeks. She was adorable when she blushed. I couldn't hold back the smile that was trying to plaster itself across my face.

I think Alice continued to talk, but I wasn't paying any attention. All I wanted to hear was the sound of this blushing angel's voice.

Alice and Rose had dragged their boyfriends onto the dance floor by the time I came back to reality. Logan was asking her to dance.

I wanted to hit him, and I wasn't normally a very violent person, but I wanted to be the one to ask her. I was once gain drawn out of my reverie by one of the most beautiful sounds to ever reach my ears.

"O-okay." She stuttered.

_WOW!_ I thought.

_Edward you don't even know her. She could be just like the others._ The 'voice' made a good point but I couldn't help it. I was hooked on Bella Swan.

* * *

As I had predicted Alice and Emmett managed to embarrass me severely over the course of the evening. Alice tried, unsuccessfully, to get me to dance with her, but I still hadn't forgotten last time.

Mostly I just watched Bella, but no in the freaky stalker-ish way. I just followed her with my eye when she wasn't looking. She was a little uncoordinated, but she still managed to stay standing for most of the night. The one time she did fall though it was one of the funniest things I'd ever seen.

Alice was trying to teach her some of the crazy dance moves she and Rose had made up and during one spin she lost her balance and crashed to the floor. When she didn't get up I thought she'd hurt herself, but then I realized she was just laughing too hard to make much progress. She managed to clam down and get up eventually and continued to dance - without the choreography.

It was staring to get late by the time everyone – except Alice the energizer bunny – started to get tired. I turned around to try and get Alice to call it a night, but she was talking to a very pale Bella.

"Well come with you," Alice yelled over the music. "Just let me get Rose. I'll be two seconds." And she ran over to Rose and Emmett.

Bella looked extra pale now and she didn't look like she could stay standing much longer. Then suddenly she turned and bolted through the crowd. I followed, and even though I'm sure I was faster the she was, she was so much smaller, so it was more difficult for me to move through the sea of people.

I managed to keep her in my sights, until she exited the building through a side door and I lost her. After much pushing and shoving I finally got outside. I couldn't find her anywhere.

Then I saw her. She was doubled over gasping for air.

I called her name but she didn't respond. Then suddenly she collapsed.

I only just managed to catch her before she hit the ground and did some serious damage.

_

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Well done edwardxxxbella you guessed right :D Was it that obvious?

_Sorry it's short but it was so much fun to write and I hope you liked it all the same :D I'm not going to do every chapter from EPOV but if there's one you really want to see tell me and I'll see what I can do. Some stuff really needs EPOV but if I don't put it in and you want it…well you know what to do._

_Did I do a good job with EPOV? Let me know in a __**REVIEW **__please!_

_WOW 14 reviews for one chapter :O Thank you: Moonlight Party, rayne. love, nation108, love. for. a. lifetime (without the spaces), edwardxxxbella, xOxtaraxOx, RUTryingToIrritateMeToDeath (Yes :P), CoutneyJ143, vanillaswirl27, kalilla, Zoey Redbird, EdWarded, SavageWoman and TwilightSagaLover543. If I didnt reply to your review I'm sorry, but my e-mail and stuff hates me at the moment._

_Oh and some recommended reading while you wait for your next update. Go and read Physical Therapy by wolfpgirl and make sure you send her reviews it's too good not to._

_Enjoy!_


	7. Caught

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight!**

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**Chapter 7 - Caught**

Two weeks had passed since my little 'episode' at the club and classes were now in full swing. People always say that college is supposed to be the best few years of your life and my experiences were quickly proving that this statement was correct.

My professors were lovely people - with the exception of Mr. Freeston, who taught my calculus class - and Angela had taken pity on me during biology and graciously offered to be my lab partner. As a result I hadn't managed to blow up the science labs…yet.

Today in biology we were just taking notes while Mr. Banner talked, but I could feel someone's eyes on the back of my head. I looked over to the other side of the room only to see Edward turning away from me.

Although we had almost all our classes together Edward and I never really talked, but he did stare at me a lot. If it was anyone else it might be annoying or frustrating, but with Edward it was just confusing. Surely there were more interesting things to look at in class than the boring brown hair on the back of my head.

I had thought that maybe after 'the incident' we might have at least made some progress as friends. I mean he seemed really genuine and friendly, but as soon as it was over he just acted like I didn't exist.

_Flashback -_

"_Bella? Bella can you hear me?" It sounded like Alice's voice, but it was distorted somehow, almost like it was coming form under water. I wanted to answer yes but I couldn't move my lips or open my eyes. _

"_How long has she been unconscious for?"_

"_Only a minute or two." There it was the same musical voice I'd heard before._

"_Should we call an ambulance?" Someone else asked._

_That was all the encouragement I needed to break through the darkness that surrounded me. Ambulances meant hospitals and hospitals, more often than not, mean needles._

_I groaned and tried to sit up only to be pushed back down again onto something soft I hadn't noticed before. "Oh no you don't." _

_My eyes snapped open. Alice and Rose's faces swam into view. They seemed to be crouched over me; worried lines were etched into their faces. Behind them were Emmett and Jasper who also looked concerned._

_But the face that stood out the most was that of the bronze-haired angel which was situated right above my own. Even upside down he was still breathtaking. _

_I started to evaluate my situation. I was lying on the ground and Edward had one hand on each of my shoulders holding me down, in case I tried to move again. After another few minutes to realise that the 'something soft' behind my head was his jacket which had been rolled up and placed on his on his lap._

"_Bella?" Alice called shaking me slightly._

"_Take it easy Alice." I groaned as everything started to spin._

"_Oh sorry. Are you alright?" She asked again._

_There was a faint ringing in my ears and the thumping music from the club was making my head pound. "I'm fine."_

_No one looked like they believed me._

"_Why didn't you tell us you weren't feeling well?" Rose asked._

"_I started to tell Alice…but it all came on so fast and…"_

"_I'm sorry Bella. I should have gone with you straight away." Alice looked on the verge of tears._

"_It's alright Alice. Really I'm fine."_

"_You do realise Bella that passing out ALONE in an alley beside a club doesn't qualify as 'fine'?" Emmett teased._

"_Lucky Edward was paying attention and managed to catch you." Jasper added._

"_So that was you earlier?" I inquired directing my gaze back to Edward._

"_Yeah, please don't make a habit out of this." He joked._

"_I'll try my hardest."_

"_Come on Bells lets get you home." Emmett said as he helped me to my feet. _

_I swayed a little and would have fallen if Edward hadn't wrapped his arm around my waist. Thankfully we didn't have to go back though the stuffy club to get out of the alleyway._

"_Will you be alright here for a few minutes while we go get the Jeep Bella?" Rose asked._

"_I'm not sure." Edward was now supporting most of my weight and my knees refused to hold me upright. _

"_Where's your car Edward?" Alice asked._

"_Just over there. Come on Bella I'll take you home." Edward said as he started to half carry me towards a shinny sliver Volvo._

"_I'm coming with you." Alice stated as she gave Jasper a quick kiss and started danced along beside us._

"_Okay, well we'll see you there." Emmett called as he walked off to find his Jeep._

"_Are you sure you're alright Bella?" Alice asked as Edward helped me into the back of his car._

"_Uh huh!"_

"_You know you're not a very good liar right?" Alice asked. _

_I just ignored that comment and close my eyes. The rest of the car ride was silence except for the soft classical music coming from the radio._

"_We're here Bella." Alice whispered when the car stopped._

_I managed to get my eyes half open and slowly climbed out of the car. Everyone was already out of the cars and waiting for me. _

_I was able to stay upright on my own this time, but Edward stayed close just in case. I was eternally grateful for the elevator on this occasion. There was no doubt in my mind that the stairs would have literally killed me, had I tried to walk up them._

"_Here we are." I announced when we reached my door. I was ready to just crawl into bed and sleep for a week - fainting spell normally had that effect on me._

"_Bella why don't you come and spend the night, in our room." Alice and Rose suggested. "We don't want you all alone tonight."_

"_Okey dokey." There was no use in fighting them. If I resisted they would just get Emmett to carry me - it's not like I would be able to put up much of a fight. "I'll get my pillow and stuff." _

_Alice forced Edward to carry all my belongings to her room, while Emmett and Jasper kisses their girlfriends and left for their respective rooms. _

_As soon as Edward placed my pillow into Alice's bed he was being herded out of the room by Alice and Rose. _

"_Night, night brother dearest." Alice called._

"_Goodnight Alice…Rose. Feel better Bel..." Alice shut the door in his face._

_End Flashback -_

"Bella?" Angela called waving her hand in front of my face.

"Hmmmm?" I snapped out of my reverie to see that the class had finished and half the classroom was empty. Angela was standing in front of me packing away her belongings. I hurried to do the same.

"Why is Edward always staring at you when I look over?" She asked.

"I don't know maybe he's…Wait! Why are _you_ looking over there?"

Angela blushed. "Um…No reason."

I looked over to Edward's table only to notice him talking to his lab partner Ben Cheney.

"Angela Weber, you've been holding out on me." I whispered.

"No I haven't...I just…" Her blush deepened.

"How long has this been going on?"

"About a week. He bumped into me before class and he was so cute when he was apologizing." Her eyes took on a far away look as she continued to reminisce.

"But there really isn't anything to tell." She finished as we walked out of the room.

"Angela, any man would have to be insane not to like you."

"You're sweet Bella." She replied.

"It's the truth." I countered.

We were halfway down the corridor when I realized I'd forgotten my jacket.

"Um Angela I've got to go back for something. But we _will_ continue this conversation later." I turned around and walked back the way we'd just come.

"Bye Bella."

I was walking a little faster than normal when I reached the room. Biology was my last class for today and Mr. Banner always locked up straight after class had finished – so it was not surprising that, as I almost ran into the room, I managed to trip over the doorjamb.

I was halfway to the ground when someone caught me.

"Why do we keep meeting like this?"

_Why is it always me?_

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I'm sorry I kept you waiting for so long. My boss has only just discovered I've finished school and she's been piling on the shifts. I actually wrote part of this during one of my shifts…shhhh don't tell Helen (My boss) :P

_I know I don't deserve them but I'd really like people to **REVIEW** and tell me if it was any good. I really did try my hardest._

_Thanks to the people who reviewed the last chapter: TwilightSagaLover543, EdWarded, Mastapammip, Linds14, RUTryingToIrritaeMeToDeath, SavageWoman, nation108, Moonlight Party, rayne. love, CourtneyJ143 (Thanks for giving me the nudge I needed to get this chapter up :D) Topaz Dazzles Her, Amoiy, kalilla, tunnels101, x0xtarax0x, evaa shilo and BJFchef. Thank you everyone!_

_I really can't make you any promises, but I can tell you that I will try my hardest to get you a chapter at least once every week and I will not desert this story. It only took me this long to update because of work and the way random ideas for random parts of the story kept popping into my head. The next chapter will also be longer than this one :D_


	8. Confusion

_Hey everyone! Okay So I know it's been a while since I've updated, but I offer you this longer chapter – 11 pages in Microsoft Word - as a peace offering (I will not bore you with the long list of terrible things which caused this lateness). Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer: I own a Twilight collectable cup from when I saw the movie; I own a copy of every book in the Twilight series (plus The Host) and I own the Movie companion; but the Twilight series belongs to Stephenie Meyer :(**

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_Why is it that the ground never opens up and swallows you when you want it to?_

"I thought we agreed not to make a habit out of this?" Edward commented as he lifted me to my feet like so many time before.

"I thought that only applied to the passing out in alleys beside clubs. I can't make any promises as far as general falling is concerned. It's one of nature's natural rhythms, you know, fish got to swim, Bella's got to fall." I knew I was rambling, but I couldn't help myself, I just felt this compulsion to keep talking.

Edward only laughed. And I thought his normal voice was beautiful. The sound of his laughter was indescribable, no sound on earth could compare.

"I'm sorry…" Laughter, "I'm not laughing…" Laugh "…at you." He paused to compose himself. "You just said that with so much conviction." He gave me a dazzling smile and I nearly forgot to breathe. _How does he do that?_

All of a sudden his smile was gone, replaced with a glare that, for a moment, I thought was directed at me. I turned around to see what he was looking at and I caught Mike Newton…was he staring at my butt? After a few minutes of staring back at Mike he still hadn't looked away, so I just ignored him and turned back to Edward. I was actually surprised to see that Edward was still in the exact same position as before. Only now he was a strange shade of pink.

"Edward? Are you okay?" I asked waving my hand in front of his face.

He let out the breath he had been unconsciously holding. "Yeah…Fine." His eyes slid back to mine. "Newton's getting on my nerves."

I glanced over my shoulder again and saw Mike walking across the lab with my jacket in his hand. My jacket! I had completely forgotten that was why I was here. _Silly Bella._

"Thanks Mike." I said as I snatched my jacket from his grasp. He barely seemed to notice my impoliteness. "Was there something else you wanted?" This seemed to snap him out of his private Lala Land.

He opened his mouth to say something, but before the words emerged he glanced over my shoulder. Obviously Edward had not relaxed, because Mike blanched and almost ran out of the room. But when I looked back at Edward he looked so different.

He had a huge triumphant smile plastered across his face, which only seemed to grow when he realized I was looking at him.

"Are you two going to stand there all day?" Mr. Banner barked from behind his desk.

"We were just leaving sir." Edward answered before gesturing for me to walk out before him. He then proceeded to collect all of our books – another thing I had forgotten about – his from his table and mine from the floor, before following. I moved forward to take my books from him, but he wouldn't let me.

"No!" He said stubbornly as he lifted the books over his head so I couldn't reach. _Stupid abnormally tall people!_ Rather than make a fool out of myself jumping around trying to get him to hand them over I just let him have them. He smiled widely once more. Obviously he was having fun with this. After a few minutes of silent walking Edward decided to speak up.

"So Bella…?" Awkward silence.

"So Bella…What?" I made hand gestures telling him to continue.

"What are you doing this afternoon?"

"That's not what you were originally going to ask is it?'

"No it's not, but I like this question better right now."

"Okay! Well…" I mentally ran through my schedule looking for anything important I was going to do. "Nothing really. I'm going to see if I can get the Biology notes from today's lesson off Angela and I have to go and get a few things from the store…But that's it."

"What are you buying?" He asked.

"Nothing too interesting."

"Do you need company on this little expedition?"

This whole conversation was taking me into a whole new world of confusing. First he is really rude to me, then he is really lovely and helpful, then he doesn't talk to me for two weeks and now he was to go shopping with me?

"Not to sound rude or anything Edward, but why do you want to know? Come to think of it why are you even talking to me? You haven't spoken to me in almost two weeks." _Way to scare him off Bella!_

Apparently Edward didn't think anything I said was too offensive since he still had his silly grin fixed in place. I was now certain that he enjoyed watching me squirm and/or get angry with him.

"Well Miss Bella, we are friends are we not?" He didn't wait for an answer, "Friends can ask about other friend's plans. Friends might want to know about said friends plans, because a) They are curious and just want to know, b) They might want to spend time with the other friend and need to know if they need to do so on another day and c) Because they might want to know if their friend wasn't company.

"I haven't spoken to you for the past couple of weeks Bella because I have been busy attending to certain aspects of my life that currently demand large amounts of my time. I only see you in class these days and before I get a chance to talk to you, you have already left the room. So now I address a similar question to you: Why have you been avoiding_ me_?

I was amazed. That was the most he had said to me _ever._ "I haven't been avoiding you. I just…" Okay so I had no real excuse. _Think Bella think!_ "You never seemed like you wanted to talk to me." That was the best I had, since there was truly no reason why I couldn't have gone over and spoken to him. _Uh maybe because you're not good enough for him?_ The little voice inside my brain screamed at me.

"And why wouldn't I want to talk to you?" He seemed genuinely curious.

"Um…Well aside from the obvious reasons…"

"Obvious reasons?"

"Well look at you…" I waved my hand around to emphasis my point.

"Okay!" He immaturely made a big show of looking at his arms and body. "I see nothing that interesting to be truly honest." He turned back to me.

"Funny Edward. Now look at me…"

"I am Bella."

"And you still don't see what I mean about 'the obvious'?" Man, for a guy who I know is topping all of his classes –followed closely by yours truly I might add – he sure is stupid.

"So you mean that because I'm not as pretty as you I can't talk to you and I'm not worth your time?" He asked looking confused.

I nearly fell over. What was he thinking? Me? That was the last thing I was thinking.

"Are you crazy?" I asked.

"Not the last time I checked…" His face shifted to accommodate a more thoughtful expression for a few moments. "…and now that I've checked again the answer is still no, but now I have more accurate and recent data." His mouth pulled up into the crooked grim he had been wearing for most of our conversation.

"You're mocking me aren't you?"

"Maybe just a little bit." He admitted.

I tried to walk faster to get away from this confusing, highly annoying, yet insanely attractive male who was hell-bent on driving me insane. Edward however easily matched my stride and was able to catch my arm after only a few seconds.

When he touched me, it stung my arm as if an electric current had passed through us. I'm guessing he felt it too since we both pulled away from each other seconds later.

"Please don't go Bella." He pleaded. "I was only joking."

"Why would I want to stay and talk to someone, who thinks it's funny to poke fun at me?" What I really wanted to do was squeal and do some kind of victory dance. Edward Cullen, genius and total babe-magnet wanted to spend time with me.

"Maybe because of my good looks and irresistible charm." He answered drawing me from my thoughts. "And because I promise to try my hardest to be more considerate of your feelings in all future conversations."

"You promise?"

"I promise." He extended his hand from under the pile of books.

"Okay then, maybe I'll stay." I took his hand. That same spark from before was back. I was beginning to think that when people talk about their relationships not having 'that spark' that they may have been talk about an actual spark…_HA! Dream on Bella, you and Edward Cullen? HA!_ Come to think of it, it was probably just static electricity. _Yep definitely static._ That was the only logical answer.

"Well now that that's all sorted, will you tell me now?" He asked.

"Tell you what?"

"What, where and when you'll be shopping and if you would like company?" He clarified.

"Nope!"

"I'll tell you what I'm going to be doing." He said. I didn't say anything, but he continued anyway. "I'm meeting up with Alice at 4:30 after her last class and she plans to drag me shopping for Halloween stuff. Apparently there is some party and I'm being forced to go. She thinks I can't dress myself."

"That's nice." I commented. By now Edward was beginning to look a little frustrated with me.

"What?" I asked giving him my best smile.

"You have no idea how annoying that is." He complained.

I must have looked sufficiently confused because he decided to elaborate. "You sometimes get this sort of far away look and then after a while you smile, like you've just told a really funny joke. It's driving me crazy not knowing what you're thinking."

"Oh! Sorry." I blushed for what seemed like to fiftieth time that afternoon.

"You don't need to apologise Bella. Can I ask you a question though?"

It took all my will power to not respond with _"You just did."_

"Sure!" By now we were back at the dorms. Edward insisted we take the elevator since he couldn't catch me if I feel due to all the books he was carrying. I was unsure as to whether I should be offended or flattered by this comment.

"What were you thinking about today at the end of Mr. Banner's lecture?"

"Oh? Um…I was remembering what happened the other night at the club. Why do you ask? Come to think of it, why were you looking at me?"

"Well you looked like you were really confused the whole time Mr. Banner was talking about the 'crossing over' stage in meiosis. He covered that topic before our last pop quiz, so I assumed you already knew it all. But then I noticed you weren't looking at Mr. Banner; or anything else in the room for that fact. So I was frustrated because I didn't know what you were thinking, which caused me to be confused because I didn't know why I was frustrated, then frustrated because I was confused…It's a vicious cycle. Does that answer your first question?" He asked while writing something inside one of the books he was carrying.

"Yes, but…"

"We now move on to your second question," He continued, after holding up his hand to silence my interruption. "I just happened to glance in your direction because Ben was talking to me about your lab partner Angela. I don't know why but I just didn't look away." He closed the book with a loud snapping sound.

"Well those really weren't the answers I wanted," He opened his mouth to say something and I held up my hand to silence him like he had done before. "Yes they were answers to the questions that I asked," He shut his mouth. "But I wanted more answers."

"Then ask more questions."

"I can't. I don't really know how to ask."

"Well mademoiselle, I hope that the right question presents itself soon. I however must leave you now." He handed me my books. "Au revoir Bella." He said as he turned to walk away.

"Edward?"

"Yes Bella?" He asked, spinning around to face me again.

"This is yours." I held out his Biology notebook.

"Yes it is. I thought that since I know Angela will be otherwise engaged this afternoon you might need someone else's notes. Besides this means I get to see you again before our next class. Or do you plan on doing my assignments for me?" He winked at me and disappeared through the door to the stairs.

As soon as he was out of sight I ran into my room and started jumping around like a mad-woman. I even performed as shortened version of the victory dance I was unable to do before. Edward Cullen wanted to see me again _outside_ of class.

Most other girls would be upset about the whole 'just friends' thing. But I knew not to expect more. There was no way Edward would choose me, when there were so many better choices out there. Friends was good enough for me.

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I felt stupid wandering around the art department looking for Alice. I probably should have asked Jasper where her class was, but that would have been that smart thing to do. Plus my logic told me that if I did it my way I would see Edward faster. My logic isn't always correct though. But I needed answers.

I opened the book again to read the message I had found earlier while I was copying his notes, which by the way were so much neater and more succinct than mine. There on the last page of notes was a block of red script:

_You're much easier to look at that Mr. Banner. And I wasn't the only one staring._

I was so confused. Did this mean he had noticed my perpetual staring, or was he referring to other members of our class looking at me? I was feeling very self conscious. I needed answers.

I was just about to give up - having circled the building almost five times – when I heard Alice's voice floating out of one of the halls near the art rooms. I could also hear a beautiful melody; it sounded like someone was playing the piano. They were really good.

"You're not listening to me are you?" Alice yelled over the piano, which sounded like it was being played louder and louder in spite of her.

"Answer me!" WOW! I wonder who's got Alice so annoyed; that takes considerable skill.

I walked into the room just as Edward turned away from the piano. My guess was that he was going to respond to whatever Alice had said before I got there, but he never got that chance. As soon as he saw me he froze.

"Don't ignore me Ed…" She stopped as soon as she saw me. She quickly regained her composure. "Hey Bella! I didn't here you come in."

Why did I get the impression they had just been talking about me?

"Well Edward I'll se you later then." Alice called as she gave him a knowing look and danced from the room.

"I thought you two were spending the afternoon together?" I asked

"Change of plans. How long had you been standing there for?" He seemed worried.

"Only a minute or two. Not long. I heard Alice yelling at you because you were ignoring her and that was it." Edward finally relaxed.

"Well what brings you to this neck of the woods Bella?"

"Your notebook." I stated.

"Was it helpful?" He asked as he began closing up the piano.

"Most of the notes were, but one part confused me."

"Well next time you should listen in class."

"Ha ha Edward you know what I'm talking about." I held the book open for him to see.

"I fail to see that part you claim confuses you."

"'Wasn't the only one staring'?" I asked.

"Oh! Well one assumes that when a professor is lecturing people would generally be facing them, staring obsessively at someone's desk on the other side of the room." He grinned impishly at me. This didn't make me any less confused. He could still be talking about anyone.

"Don't worry Bella."

"I'm confused." I whined.

"Let's talk about something else." He suggested as he ushered me out of the hall.

"Sounds great to me. Was that an original piece?" I asked waving my hand towards the piano.

"Yes it was."

"It was beautiful."

"Thank you. So how has your afternoon been so far?"

"Well as fun as it sounds, copying your notes doesn't merit a 'best afternoon of my life' award."

"Well what shall we do to make it more fun? Do you still have to do your secret shopping?"

"Uh huh."

"Can I come? PLEASE? I promise to behave myself." His face held the most adorable pout. How could I deny him anything when he looked that way?

"Well it seems you cannot be stopped. This way."

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"Why do you insist on being so difficult Bella?" Edward yelled. He was several feet behind me carrying my four bags of art supplies and my new 35"x 20" canvas. I wish he had just left them behind.

"Come one Bella talk to me."

"If you haven't noticed Edward I'm kind of upset with you."

"Why?"

"Edward, when people go shopping with their friends they don't take them to pay for their purchases. I don't take charity."

"It's not charity Bella." He said as he readjusted the large canvas to carry it better. "Think of it as a joint birthday gift for every birthday I missed. If you break it up over 17 years it not that much really."

"Eighteen." I mumbled

"Pardon?"

"Eighteen years, my birthday was in September."

"Well that makes it even less. Don't tell Alice that she missed your birthday though."

"Why?"

"Because she'll throw you a huge party. Eighteen is a big deal."

"Oh! In that case mister you keep your mouth shut."

"I will not speak a word…as long as you stop complaining about me buying you this stuff."

"That's blackmail Edward."

"No Miss Swan. I like to think of it as a form of forceful persuasion."

"Blackmail!"

"Persuasion!"

"Blackmail!"

"Persuasion!"

"I'm not going to win am I?" I asked.

"Nope!" He said, popping the 'p'.

"Forceful persuasion it is then."

"What are you doing with all this stuff anyway?" We were now once again outside my dorm room as I dung through my bag looking for my key. "I don't even know what half of it is." He held up several different shaped brushes, he had pulled out of a bag.

"That's a mop brush, you use it for water colours, on a large scale…a fan brush, you use this one to blend colours or to paint things like hair and grass…and a rigger brush, for fine lines and signing your name on the canvas." I said pointing to each one in turn. "Oh and to answer your first question, I thought it was pretty self explanatory. I'm going to paint."

"You never cease to amaze me Bella. Are you any good?"

"I don't know. _I_ like what I come up with. You may be a better judge though, come on." I pushed the door further open so he could follow me inside. I took some of the bags off him and placed them on my bed.

"Can you bring the rest over here Edward?" I asked as I removed some of the more delicate objects from the bags so they wouldn't be damaged. "Edward?" I turned to see Edward staring transfixed at the wall behind my desk. I couldn't figure out his facial expression. He almost looked shocked, which could either be a good or bad thing.

The wall was covered with all my loose sketches and the large copy of my favourite photo. I was quite pound of this particular drawing. I had managed to enlarge the photo without making anyone look warped. I had taken extra care with my smudging and shading too.

"Is it that bad?" I asked

"You drew that?"

"Yes." I said slowly. "They look better when I paint them though."

"'Look better'? Bella these are fabulous just the way they are. You've got talent Miss Swan. Why are you a science major when you can do this?"

"Because it's difficult to make a living out of painting. It's not exactly known for having a stead cash flow. Why aren't you a music major? From what I heard before, I doubt it was because they wouldn't accept you."

"I don't know. This just seemed to fit better."

We spent a few minutes organizing my supplies, stopping occasionally for me to explain the name or uses of certain utensils to Edward.

"So when will you start your painting?" He asked after everything was safely packed away in its corresponding place.

"Maybe tomorrow night. Alice is dragging me shopping in the morning and I have nothing to do after that."

"You're not going to the Halloween party?" He seemed upset by this revelation.

"That's tomorrow?"

"Yes, tomorrow is Halloween Bella. Please come, otherwise I'll have no one to talk to. My family is embarrassing at parties; I need a friend to comfort me. I'll beg if that's what I have to do. Please come."

"I'll think about it." He looked so sad, so I gave in. "Okay! I've thought about it…I'll go."

"Thank you Bella. I own you big time." He looked so pleased that I had decided to go.

"Are we all going as a group?" I didn't want to make him uncomfortable treating it as a date if it wasn't.

"I don't think so. Can I come and pick you up?"

"Sure." It was becoming difficult to hide the excitement that was bubbling away inside of me.

"Okay! I'll save you form Alice as soon as she'll let me." He winked at me and left the room. "Until tomorrow Bella."

I Bella Swan had an almost date with Edward Cullen.

There was no accurate description to explain how I felt at that moment. Tomorrow couldn't come fast enough.

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Was it any good? I know I don't deserve them but a _**REVIEW**__ or two would be nice. Would it be possible to get to 110 before the next update? NO I'm not holding my chapters from ransom, but I really would like lots of you to tell me what you thought. PLEASE if you've read all 8 chapters and haven't reviewed yet, please do. _

_I'm sorry for the lateness, but I'm trying really hard here just to stop myself from falling apart at the seams. I hope this hasn't adversely affected the story._

_Thank you to RUTryingToIrritateMeToDeath, kallila, Zoey Redbird, EdWarded, BellaxoxEdward, nation108, rayne. love, love. for. a. lifetime, Moonlight Party, SavageWoman, TwilightSagaLover543, claari, Amoiy, CourtneyJ143 and Linds14. I'm glad you like the story enough to review for me, you make me so happy. Thanks (again)._

_Happy holidays :D_


	9. Something You're Not

_Get who got an acceptance letter from the University of Technology Sydney? That's right...ME! How exciting :P_

_You have no idea how unbelievably sorry I am for keeping you waiting so long, but someone really needs to feed those plot bunnies. Every time I sat down to write this chapter I kept getting new stories ideas (which is great but not while I'm trying to focus in this chapter). Before we start though I want to thank liz864 and Amoiy who helped me brainstorm costume ideas. You two are awesome. I also want to let you know that this chapter is dedicated to AlicesShoppingBuddie who was my 100__th__ reviewer. As a special reward I used her idea for Bella's costume :D _

_So I hear you're all excited about that Halloween party? Well what are you waiting for…get reading ;D_

**Disclaimer: I now own the Twilight Soundtrack and Twilight 'The Score' (plus the items I mentioned in the last disclaimer) but sadly Santa did not bring me papers saying I own Twilight. Oh well, I'll live :D**

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Chapter 9 – Something You're Not

"Are you crazy Alice? No…Nuh uh, I'm not wearing that."

"Come on Bella it's the perfect costume." Alice pleaded with me as she waved the offensive garment in front of my face.

"Do you hate me that much?"

"No Bella I love you; that's why you're wearing this."

"Yeah Bella," Rose added, not taking her eyes of her toenails, which she was in the middle of painting. "You need to be more adventurous."

"I agree. Besides its Halloween; the time when you dress up however you want and no one can say or do anything about it. Why aren't you more excited?"

"I would be a lot more excited if you just let me wear what I picked out." I pointed over to the trashcan which held my costume – still in its wrapping.

"Bella you are not going to your first real college party as a ghost. No one will see you."

"But Aliiiiiccccceeeee, that's the point." I whined.

"No Bella. I will not having you looking stupid and boring. You are wearing this." She shook the hanger once more and gently placed my outfit on her bed. She then took out an oversized Prada bag from her closet and started packing in various cosmetics and hair products.

_Hair dye?_ Now I was confused.

"What are you doing Alice?" I asked. "I thought we were getting ready here."

"_We_ are getting ready here." She explained.

"Who's that stuff for then?"

"I can't tell you Bella, but rest easy it's not for you." She shoved a few more items into the bag before chucking it under her bed.

"Can I see your costumes now?" I asked. After all this was the reason I'd come over so early.

"Should we show her Rose?" Alice asked.

"I think we should." Rose and Alice both skipped over to their respective closets and pulled out matching black garment bags. Each one was bulging in different places.

"Which on do you want to see first?" They asked, huge grins plastered across their faces.

"Surprise me."

They looked at each other for a second before Alice sat down on her bed. I turned my attention to Rosalie who proceeded to unzip the bag she held.

My mouth dropped open when she pulled the bag away to reveal a fuschia tutu detailed with a line of tiny purple flowers below the bust. The skirt was made of numerous layers of pink and purple tulle. Attached to the back of the bodice was a set of elegant gold fairy wings.

"WOW Rose. It's beautiful."

"I know right? I've got these fabulous pink stockings and shoes to go with it too." She gushed as she lovingly admired her costume. "Emmett wanted me to be a cheerleader, but I thought that was too boring."

"My turn! My turn!" Alice squealed as she jumped up and took Rose's place. She was clearly excited about her costume.

"Alrighty Alice lets see." After seeing Rose's costume I was curious to see what Alice had, metaphorically, up her sleeve. She practically ripped open the garment bag in her haste to unveil her costume.

Inside was the world's tiniest pair of denim shorts and a shirt that looked like it was meant for a four year old. The bottom of the shirt was artfully tied into a knot at the front and the shoulders were covered in blue material that fell into two small 'v' shapes on either side of the collar. Attached to the front of the shirt was a gold star badge that read 'Sheriff'. A red cowboy hat was hanging off the back of the hanger.

"I don't think that qualifies as a costume Alice." I said, "It's not going to cover much."

"I fail to see the problem Bella." She laughed. "Besides there's more to it than this."

"Really?"

"Yes." She ran into her closet and quickly returned with a pair of brown cowboy boots and a white holster belt which held two small guns.

"Oh you're right Alice it now covers much more skin." I replied sarcastically. "Jasper's going to die when he sees you in this."

"Wait 'til you see him." She laughed.

_"Cause I saddle up my horse_

_And I ride into the city_

_I make a lot of noise_

_Cause the girls_

_They are so pretty_

_Riding up and down Broadway_

_On my old stud Leroy_

_And the girls say_

_Save a horse, ride a cowboy_

_Everybody says_

_Save a horse ride a cowboy"_

"Hi Jazz." Alice said when she flipped her phone open. Trust Alice to customize ring tones like that.

"Okay I'll be there soon…Yes you have to do this…Because you love me…I love you."

"Interesting ring tone Alice." Rose commented.

"I like it. Well ladies I must leave you now. I need to start getting Jasper ready." She pulled her bag out from under the bed and walked to the door. "Oh and Bella, I need you back here in four hours, showered and ready for Rose and I to get started."

"Sure Alice."

She was halfway out the door when she suddenly turned around. "And don't even think about pulling that hideous thing out of the trash either." She pointed to my ghost outfit which was looking very pathetic sitting in the corner of the room.

_How is it that she always knows how to foil my plans?_

"So what are the guy's costumes?" I asked Rose when Alice had finally departed.

"I can't tell you." She answered as she set out numerous 'instruments of torture' on her bureau.

"Why not?"

"Alice wants it to be a surprise. Don't worry they are all fabulous choices, trust me." She giggled.

"I do trust you. Well I'll see you back here at three o'clock then." I called from the door.

"Bye Bella." She called turning back to her work.

* * *

"There is no way in hell I'm wearing this Alice." I can't believe she was even making me try this on.

"Come on Bella I bet you look really cute. Show us!" Alice called through the bathroom door.

"I'm not coming out." I called back.

"Bella Swan, come out now."

"NO!" I was embarrassed to even look at myself; no one was going to see me wear this in public.

"If you don't come out in ten seconds…ten…nine…eight…" Oh no! She was counting.

"Okay, okay are you happy now?" I yelled as I threw open the door.

"Bella you look HOT! The boys are going to love you in this." Alice gushed as I immerged from the bathroom in the tiny black and white outfit.

"I don't want the boys to love me."

"Fine then, Edward will love it. Speaking of which I spoke to him earlier and we have decided to all go as a group."

"Oh! Okay." To tell the truth I was a little disappointed that we weren't going to be alone. But it looked like I had no say in the matter.

"I look like a tramp." I complained catching another glance at myself in the mirror on Alice's dresser.

"Bella it looks great and no one dressed by me ever looks like a tramp. Come here and we'll finish it off" She pushed me down in front of the mirror.

"Please don't make me do this." I pleaded as Alice applied the last touches to my makeup. My eyes were outlined with dark eyeliner and I had several layers of red lipstick and lip gloss covering my lips. The only thing I cold think to say about my hair was that it was big. Big and curly.

There was a knock at the door. "Come in," Alice called before turning back to me. "Bella, calm down, it's Halloween and we are going to have fun."

"Well as long as Emmett doesn't drag us trick or treating like last year." Rose added as she opened the door. "The boys are ready, well Emmett and Jasper anyway."

"YAY!" Alice squealed as she placed the small white 'hat' in my hair. "Okay Bella all done. Now just put on the stockings and shoes then you're done."

"You look great Bella." Rose said as she reapplied her bright pink lip gloss. If I thought her costume as stunning on the hanger, it was nothing compared to how it looked on Rosalie. Her costume hugged every curve and her pink thigh-high lacey stockings made her legs look they went on for days. I just wanted to cover myself up so no one would notice how pathetic I looked.

"I keep telling her that but she won't believe me." Alice called from the bathroom as she adjusted her outfit. Her shorts were almost skin tight and barely covered her butt. The shirt also covered very little. The small knot on the front of the shirt sat just under her breasts and was the only thing holding the shirt closed. Her gun holster rested low on her hips and her hat was arranged on a slight angle.

"Are you girls ever going to come out?" Emmett yelled, sticking his head through the door as I pulled on my shoes.

"EMMETT!" Alice yelled as she rushed out of the bathroom. "First; you do not come into a girl's room without knocking. We could have been naked or something. And second you have been out there all of five seconds. Develop some patience boy." I pulled on my last shoe and looked up to see a very angry Alice.

"Well sooooooory. Next time I'll just leave you guys he-" My laughter cut him off.

"It's not nice to laugh at other people's misfortunes Bella." Jasper called from the hall.

_This is too good to be true._ I thought as I pulled the door open to reveal the funniest sight I think I've ever seen.

Emmett was dressed in what looked like a large yellow jumpsuit covered in different coloured polka dots. It had a large white ruffle as a collar and large red pompoms instead of buttons.

His face was covered with white face paint and someone had painted a huge red smile onto his face – which was slightly warped due to the frown he was sporting. His hair was covered over with a rainbow wig and on his nose was a large red ball. All in all it was quite comical, especially the shoes. It looked like he had two big red boats strapped to his feet.

I took a moment to giggle to myself before turning to Jasper. Now I knew what the hair dye was for. Jasper's honey blonde hair was now pitch black. He, like Emmett, was wearing quite a bit of makeup. His face was white and he had dark eye liner around his eyes – even more then I did – and what looked like black lipstick.

He was wearing black skinny leans and a leather studded jacket. The black shirt he wore underneath had been artfully ripped and was held together by various sized safety pins. He looked like the long lost fifth member of KISS.

I wasn't the only one staring though. Emmett and Jasper were staring at Alice and I with their mouths hanging open. After a few minutes of staring and Rose flicking her gaze from the boys to Alice and I like she was watching a tennis match, Emmett finally broke the silence.

"Well it's a good thing I brought this," He laughed holding up a small toy chainsaw. He turned it on and it made a cute wrrrrring sound. "Too bad they didn't dress me as a baseball player, then I could do some serious damage to the perverts at this party."

"Emmett I told you not to bring that." Rose whined. Alice just rolled her eyes and went back inside.

"But Babe this outfit is torture enough, you can't take my toys away from me too."

"I thought you liked it?" Rose pouted.

"I do…I just like it better now."

"Well you guys don't have to worry about us. I've got it all covered." Alice's voice drifted out of the dorm room. "Oh and Bella you forgot this." She locked the door before handing me a small feather duster.

"Where's Edward?" I asked. I was too preoccupied with Emmett and Jasper's costumes that I didn't notice he was missing until now.

"He should be here soon." Rose answered.

"No, I just spoke to him," Alice corrected. "We're meeting him downstairs in a few. Everyone ready." She gave each of us a once over before herding us down the hall.

The foyer was filled with a wide variety of oddly dressed individuals making there way out for Halloween. I couldn't see Edward anywhere and from the looks on everyone's faces neither could they.

"He said he was down here." Alice yelled over the chatter as she continued to search.

I could see most of the male students were staring at Rosalie, Alice and I with appreciation. Emmett and Jasper glared at them and pulled their girls closer. I screamed when someone behind me did the same thing.

"I didn't think my costume was that scary." Edward whispered. "This is an interesting costume though Miss Swan."

I spun around to face him. He was beautiful. I know that's not normally how you would describe a man – or a Halloween costume for that matter – but there were no other words.

He was wearing an old fashion outfit of dark grey dress pants and black tails. Underneath he had a white ruffle shirt and a grey waist coat. His hair was its usual untamed mess. Like I said he was beautiful. In his hand he was holding a pile of blank music sheets.

"Well your costume may not be scary, but your entrance certainly was."

"And your entrance was watched but every male in this room." He winked at me. I just blushed.

"And what are you supposed to be Eddie?" Emmett asked.

"He's Mozart Emmett, I told you that before." Alice answered for him. "Now that we're all here LET'S GO!" She grabbed Jaspers hand and started to drag him through the crowd.

"Shall we Bella?" Edward asked as he extended his arm.

"We shall." I took his arm and we made our way through the slowly dissipating crowd.

The party was practically on the other side of campus at on of the big fraternity houses. It took us about five minutes to catch up to Alice and Jasper and another five to reach the house. There were people everywhere. Lots of people.

"Remind me again why I'm here?" I asked Edward as we made our way inside.

"To have fun." Alice yelled over the blaring music before running away again.

"Well what will we do now that we're here?" I said thinking out loud.

"I think Angela wants to speak to you." Edward answered pointing to something over my shoulder. I followed his gaze to see a very excited Angela waving me over to where she was standing.

"She looks like she'll explode if you don't get over there soon."

"Okay lets go." I said grabbing his hand. He wouldn't budge.

"I don't want to interrupt any special 'girl talk'. I'm going to see where Ben is."

"How considerate of you Mr. Cullen. We'll find you guys when we're finished." I started to walk over to the overly excited Angela.

"Sounds like a plan." He called before moving off into the crowd.

"Nice costume Bella." Angela commented when I reached her side.

"You too Angela."

She was dressed in a white short sleeved shirt and blue pinafore. Her hair was pulled back into two pigtails with blue ribbons holding them in place. On her feet was a sparkly pair of ruby red slippers. She looked positively angelic.

"So you did end up finding some shoes?" I asked.

Angela and I had spent the best part our lunchtime, and the early afternoon, looking for shoes to go with her costume. When I had to leave her - so Alice could torture me - she still hadn't found any shoes.

"Yeah. Actually Ben found them."

"Ben?"

"Yeah he saw me at the mall and he come to talk to me. He asked me to come to the party with him and when he found out I didn't have any shoes he went and found these for me. They belong to his sister; she played Dorothy in her school musical. She said I could borrow them."

"Well it seems you have yourself a keeper there Ang. So where is _Ben_?"

"Looking for my Toto." She said holding up her empty little wicker basket. "I dropped him somewhere and he refused to give up the search. I wouldn't be surprised if he's roped Edward into helping him look."

"He just keeps getting better and better doesn't he? He's definitely a keeper then Ang." I laughed.

"Who's a keeper?" Edward asked as he popped up beside me.

"Never you mind. Hey Ben."

"Hey Bella. Interesting costume you've got there." He said as he handed a small plush puppy to Angela and kissed her on the cheek. They were so perfect for eachother.

"Is that going to be the opening line for every conversation I have tonight?"

"Probably." Ben replied.

He was wearing a tuxedo and bow tie, the possibilities were endless. "So what are you supposed to be anyway?" I asked.

He walked over and showed me his watch. ROLEX was written across the face in big gold letters.

"Sorry Ben but the watch doesn't help. As nice as it is."

"Bella Bella Bella," He chanted shaking his head. "I'm James Bond."

I laughed.

"Well wait 'til you see Mike." He added jabbing his thumb over his shoulder, pointing to an individual covered in a white sheet with the word "BOO!" written across the front.

"WOO! He's so scary." He said sarcastically, waving his arms around. "But I suppose it could be worse."

"I don't think it could get much worse than that." Edward replied.

"I told you so." Alice whispered into my ear as she danced past. I blushed furiously.

_How does she do that?_

"You mind if I steal Angela away from you Bella?" Ben asked.

"She's all yours." I answered. "Have fun."

"We will." And with that they melted into the crowd surrounding the dance floor.

"So it's just you and me again." Edward mentioned after they departed.

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Really? I actually meant it as a good thing. Would you like to dance with me Miss Swan?" He bowed and extended his hand.

"I would love to, but you should know in advance that my 'dancing' may cause serious injury."

"Do you really think I'd let anything hurt you, even yourself?" He teased.

"Actually I wasn't thinking about me so much as you. In these shoes it could mean permanent damage, maybe even -" He silenced me by placing a finger on my lips, his smile now more evident than ever.

"I'll take my chances. Besides you danced beautifully the other night at the club." He said pulling me towards the dance floor where the others had congregated. Alice waved to us, pushing people out of the way so we had room to dance near them.

"Were you watching me?" I asked trying to sway along with the music.

"Maybe I was. Is there a problem with that?" He seemed genuinely worried that he'd just scared me off.

"No, it's just interesting to know that's all."

I couldn't believe it. And here I was thinking that he hadn't taken any notice of me that night – before my little 'episode' anyway.

"What are you thinking about?" He whispered moving closer.

"Nothing, just -" His cell phone cut me off. He quickly checked the caller ID then hung up without answering.

"You're not going to answer that?" I asked.

"Nope." He said popping the 'p'. "It's not important." In the hopes of lightening the mood he hitched a smile onto his face, but it didn't reach his eyes like before.

That was odd. I didn't pick Edward as the kind of person to do that to anyone. I glanced over his shoulder to see Alice and Emmett staring at Edward with worried eyes. We continued to dance in silence for several minutes.

"Are you alright?" I asked him when the music switched to a more up-tempo number. His smile had now turned into a grimace and I was just as worried as Emmett and Alice.

"I'm fine. Nothing to -" His phone cut him off. He glared at the caller ID before turning back to me.

"I'm sorry Bella there is a slight problem I need to attend to. Excuse me." He flipped the phone open and started to growl into the receiver as he walked outside.

"Come dance Bella." Alice called. I just shook my head. She looked offended so I just mouthed 'bathroom' and left the dance floor. What I really wanted to do was check on Edward, but he obviously didn't want me to hear his conversation.

I made my way slowly through the crowded house. It was quite humorous to see everyone dressed up in their ridiculous costumes. I saw 'Ghost Mike' dancing with Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory, who were dressed as Wonder Woman and Marilyn Monroe. Seth Clearwater was dancing around wearing a huge feather headdress and war paint. He looked like he was having a lot of fun.

I continued to walk around admiring costumes when I ran into someone. Someone very hard I might add. I bounced right off but somehow keeping my balance long enough to be steadied but someone nearby.

"Bella?" A husky voice asked. I looked up to see a very oddly dressed Jacob Black.

"Hey Jake. Long time no see."

"Or hear." He added, "We've been really good lately you know."

"So I've noticed."

"What brings you here on this fine evening? You alone?"

"No I'm not alone, I -"

"Good coz if you go around dressed like that you're just asking for trouble." He said gesturing to my costume. "It's a good choice though. Goes with the accent."

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," I continued. "I came with a group of friends."

"What a coincidence, so did I. Speaking of which where they come now." He said pointing to a small group making their way towards us. Two boys and one girl.

"Bella Swan, you know Quil and Embry." He said. They both waved.

"I do indeed." I said waving back.

"And this is Nessie. Nessie Bella. Bella Nessie." He said gestured to the extremely gorgeous brown haired girl at his side.

"Hey Bella." She offered her hand. Her voice was like wind chimes. She was dressed in a short corset dress made of a deep purple satin overlaid with black lace. On her feet she wore thigh high black leather boots. A cape was draped around her shoulders.

She wore a lot of extremely dark eye makeup, like mine, and dark purple lipstick. On her neck were two small red dots.

"I really like your costume." She continued.

"Oh! Thanks. Yours is really outstanding too." I commented.

"It looks better without the cape but Jacob won't let me take it off." She whispered.

"I heard that Nessie." Jacob barked.

Nessie just rolled her eyes. "I want to dance guys." She called moving towards the dance floor with Quil and Embry in toe. "It was lovely to meet you Bella. Maybe I'll see you on my next visit too." With that she disappeared.

"Make sure your back in ten. Tell Embry." Jacob whispered to a retreating Quil.

"Soooooo? You and Nessie huh?" I asked.

"What ever do you mean Bella?" He asked trying to sound indifferent.

"She seems really lovely. How long have you been together?"

"She's the best. We've been _together_ together for a few months now, but we were really good friends for…forever before that."

"That's sweet. Does she go here?"

"Nah she's just visiting for the weekend. We always spend Halloween together."

"Speaking of Halloween…Nessie is a vampire and you are…?" I asked; not really knowing what the hideous green-grey jumpsuit was supposed to be.

"Embry, Quil and I are the Ghostbusters." He announced.

"Oh!"

"Is that all you can say?" He seemed really hurt by my lack of response.

"It's a great idea," I added. "And what better time to set up shop than Halloween."

"That's better. And don't worry we have a special Halloween trick for everyone."

"Taking place in ten minutes?"

"Yes indeedy."

"I look forward to it." I finished before I was blinded by a bring flash of light. When my vision returned I found myself looking into a pair of piercing blue eyes. The photographer was a casually dressed man with dirty blonde hair and an old leather jacket. Almost as soon as we made eye contact he disappeared through the crowd.

"What was that?" I asked as I continued to blink away the white spots in my vision.

"James." Jacob replied in a disgusted tone. "He's a junior. One of the biggest freaks to walk this earth. He also happens to be the photographer for the university paper. He's been taking photos of everyone all night."

"The photos aren't going to be in the next issue are they?" I asked panicked. I hated any kind of attention and his outfit was certain to get me much more than normal.

"I'm not sure. I think he has to get permission before he can do that."

I let out the breath I had been holding.

"Hate photos that much huh?"

"Only when I'm wearing this. I'll see you later."

"Phase one starts in five if you want to stick around." He called after me.

* * *

"There you are Bella," Nessie called from the back door of the house. I was mindlessly staring at the fairy lights someone had arranged in the bushes.

"Jacob said you wanted to see this." She grabbed my arm and pulled me inside.

I couldn't see much at first because everyone was pushed up against the walls, but I could hear loud cheering. Everyone was packed close to each other, but Nessie and I still managed to push our way to the front of the crowd. What I saw I will never forget.

The Ghostbusters theme was blaring through the speakers and Jacob, Quil and Embry were chasing Mike around the dance floor trying to tackle him to the ground. Eventually, when they were unable to catch him Emmett a few others joined in.

"Poor Mike." I laughed when everyone had given up the chase.

"It's sad he was the only ghost." Nessie said, still laughing.

"I see someone enjoyed the show." Jacob laughed as he made his way over to where we were standing. He didn't even break his stride before flinging Nessie over his shoulder and walking away.

"JACOB BLACK PUT ME DOWN NOW!" She screamed.

"Sorry Bells but she promised to dance with me and I simple can't wait any longer." He yelled as he carried her away to the over crowded dance floor.

I watched them for some time before deciding to look for Edward and the others. As I searched the room for them I couldn't help but feel as though I was being watched. I began to alternate between searching for my friends and searching for the owner of the eyes I could feel boring a hole into the black of my head.

After a few minutes I noticed a flash of light from the far corner of the room. And there he was.

James! He was starting intently at me whilst talking to two other people. One was a red head in a black catsuit with little back ears on top of her head. The other a tall dark skinned man wearing the black breeches and ruffled shirt of a pirate.

As I watched he lifted his camera again and snapped another picture of me. The redhead followed his gaze only to glare at me. Seconds later she turned away and stalked off. James ignored her, smirking at me before turning back to his friend.

"Bella! Where have you been?" Alice yelled as she made her way towards where I was standing unable to move. "We've all been looking for you. And Edward's starting to get really worried."

"Sorry I was…distracted." Was all I could say. I could still see James stealing glances at me from the corer of his eye across the room.

"Well come on. This way." She grabbed my arm and started to drag me through the gyrating bodies on the dance floor. I felt someone grab my other arm and pull me back at the same moment that Alice loosened her grip on my hand.

I jerked to a halt and looked up at the drunken football player who held my arm. "Hey Cutey, my dorm is really dirty. You wanna come over and help -"

CRACK!

"Ahhhhhhh!" He screamed looking over to where a furious Alice was standing whilst rubbing his arm. "What was that for?" It was only then that I noticed she was pointing one of her guns at him.

"If you can't figure out why, then I'm not going to tell you, you pig. Now get away from my friend before I hit you again." He quickly scurried away.

"Cap gun." Alice explained as she twisted the little silver gun around her fingers. "I told you I had you covered." She winked before dragging me through the crowd again. This time keeping my arm in a surprisingly tight vice grip.

"I SEE THEM!" Emmett yelled as he watched us approach. Everyone turned to watch Alice drag me over to where they were standing. "You really need to stop doing this to us Bells. But I see this time there is no harm done." He said, patting my shoulder with such force that my knees gave out.

"EMMETT!" Everyone yelled.

"Oops! Sorry." He laughed as he pulled me to my feet.

* * *

"Aren't you glad we dressed you up Bella?" Rose asked when we left the dance floor an hour later to get drinks. She was pointing to Mike who was now carrying his costume which was considerably dirtier then before. After the third repetition of Jacob's Ghostbusters routine he had decided it wasn't worth it anymore and had taken the sheet off.

"Hmmmmm." Was my only response. Were they never going to let me live that down?

"You alright?" Jasper asked.

_Why am I the one with the extra perceptive friends?_ No I wasn't alright I thought as I looked over to see James once again staring at me. He wasn't even trying to be discreet about it either. He just stood in the corner staring. I think he may have snapped more pictures too but I tried not to think about that.

"Yeah." Was my answer. No need to ruin everyone else's night or make them worry.

"No you're not. Is this about what that guy said before?" Alice asked. "Don't worry about it. He's just a stupid frat boy."

"What did they say?" Edward asked coming up behind us and putting a hand on my shoulder. It was strangely comforting.

"No Alice it's not about what they said," I answered before turning to Edward. "It's not important." His brow furrowed and I wanted nothing more than to smooth it out with my fingers but I held my hands down by my side.

"Come on guys this is a party we should be having a good time." Emmett yelled. Obviously _he_ missed our little discussion.

"I agree with Emmett." I said going to stand by him hoping everyone would just forget and have a good time.

"You know what this party needs?" Emmett decided.

"No but I'm sure you're going to tell us." Edward answered. "Am I right?"

"Indeed you are Eddie. We neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed…" He ran over to the DJ, or in this case the pledge who was organizing the music. The boy nodded and quickly typed something into his computer.

A huge smile was plastered on Emmett's face as he jogged back to us. "Ladies, the gentlemen in the black and Edward, please follow me." He said in an oddly posh accent as he led us onto the dance floor.

"It is time to liven up this party everyone. How can we do this you may ask, well I shall tell you. In a few minutes my man Eric over there will be pulling on a special song. When said song comes on you must follow my lead. Do you agree with the terms of this agreement?"

"What are you going to do to us Emmett?" Rose and Edward asked at the same time.

"Don't you worry your pretty little heads about this." He said messing up Edward already crazy hair. He almost did the same to Rose but though better of it when he saw the expression on her face. "It's nothing bad I swear. Sure it'll be embarrassing but it will be fun too. Please?"

"We're in." Alice yelled, jumping up and down excitedly. No doubt she had already figured out Emmett's plan. Jasper looked worried but not enough to disagree with her.

Emmett looked pleadingly at Rosalie. "Oh what the hell." She cried exasperatedly throwing her arms up in the air and making her way over to where Alice stood.

"What about you two?" Emmett asked.

Edward shook his head.

"But Edward its tradit…" Emmett whined before slapping his hand over his mouth. "Oops."

Edward's eyes went wide. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Come on Ed. You know you want to. Deep down inside of you my fun loving little brother is hiding." His voice took on a more reflective tone. "He was so much fun to be around."

"Is anyone going to explain this to me?" I chimed in.

"You young Bella will have to wait and see." Emmett whispered as the music started and everything fell into place.

"I am never speaking to you again Emmett." Edward yelled as Emmett dragged him into the middle of the dance floor.

"You coming Bella?" Emmett yelled. I just shook my head and stood back to watch.

_Its close to midnight and something evils lurking in the dark  
Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops your heart  
You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it  
You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes,  
Youre paralyzed  
_

My mouth hung open as I watched the Cullens and Hales dance to _Thriller_. They were so perfectly in sync with the music and each other. Even Emmett's ridiculous clown outfit didn't detract from the overall effect.

_  
Cause this is thriller, thriller night  
And no ones gonna save you from the beast about strike  
You know its thriller, thriller night  
Youre fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight_

_  
You hear the door slam and realize theres nowhere left to run  
You feel the cold hand and wonder if youll ever see the sun  
You close your eyes and hope that this is just imagination  
But all the while you hear the creature creepin up behind  
Youre out of time  
_

Despite Edward's original protests he seemed to be having a wonderful time. I was a little jealous, truth be told, but I didn't want to risk embarrassing myself or ruining their performance by joining in.

_  
__Cause this is thriller, thriller night  
There aint no second chance against the thing with forty eyes  
You know its thriller, thriller night  
Youre fighting for your life inside of killer, thriller tonight…_

As the song progressed more and more people joined in and I was soon forced to leave the floor to give everyone enough space. The combination of costumes and the circumstances which resulted in this merriment made me wish I had brought a camera.

My thoughts started to float towards James, but before I could think about it too much the song ended and I was snapped back into the present. The room was filled with applause as the evil echoing laughter faded from the speakers.

I saw Emmett and Alice bowing to everyone, while Rose and Jasper laughed at them. Edward however as no where in sight.

_Wonder where he is?_ I thought.

As soon as the though crossed my mind a streak of black and white flew past me. Only seconds later I felt someone wrapping an arm around my waist.

"Can we please, please, please leave now?"

I nodded and after taking my hand Edward and I slipped out of the house.

_

* * *

_

A/N Okay so I need to leave it here for now. I promise you will have more within the week. Well that's if you want it. Did it live up to your expectations? I sincerely hope so, I worked really hard on it (I had 2 hours sleep and it was the longest chapter EVER! 18 Pages! Was that too long? :S) What did you think about their costumes? Aside from the plot bunnies, the costumes were the main reason this chapter took so long. If clowns scare you I'm sorry for subjecting you to that. I was going for original and humorous. Comments? Questions? You know what to do…REVIEW!

_To everyone who reviewed last chapter: Stacey-twilighter, EdWarded, Zoey Redbird, kalilla, Moonlight Party, Amoiy, SavangeWoman, morganator9939, rayne. love, Jyessie Abbey McMahon Hardy, AlicesShoppingBuddie, RUTryingToIrritateMeToDeath, nation108, love. for. a. lifetime, Mastaspammip, Marshmello09, fredandgeorgerokmysoxs, CortneyJ143 and_ _whostole. thecookie._ _idid. Thank you!_

_And now for my anonymous reviewers ;D _

_Isa: Thanks for your idea. I was already thinking of doing something about that. Probably when I write the 20 questions parts in a few chapters time. I'm glad you are enjoying the story._

_IheartEdward: I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Please keep reading and reviewing *hint hint*_

_unknown twilight fan:D: I hope you still 'really like' the story. Were their costumes exciting enough for you?_

_Oh and before I forget, I need name for the football team. I don't really want to use Spartans, and Vampires is already taken, PLEASE HELP! _

_-Lou_


	10. Walky Talky

_Sorry it's late but sitting at the computer in 44*C/111*F (and higher) temperatures is not exactly high on my list of priorities right now. But I did it for you :P_

**Disclaimer: Characters are still not mine. Everything else = Mine! ;D**

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**Chapter 10 – Walky Talky**

The cool night air enveloped us as Edward dragged me out of the house. I was laughing so hard I could barely walk. _Mozart_ on the other hand seemed determined to put as much distance between us and the house as possible. He managed to drag me almost halfway across campus before he finally stopped.

"Never. Again." He puffed.

"I'm sure you'll get over it in time for next Halloween." I teased.

"No I meant I'll never be able to show my face ever again." He laughed.

"Calm down Edward." I said while patting him on the shoulder. "Emmett is bound to embarrass himself sooner or later. Then everyone will forget. Well everyone except me…but I promise not to tell, Okay?"

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" He questioned while he covered his face with his hands. "Because it doesn't really."

"Oh! Why not?"

"Because your opinion is the only one that really matters to me."

His reply was slightly muffled by his hands but I still heard it. I was completely taken aback by the turn our conversation had taken. I couldn't think of anything to say. I must have looked like a demented goldfish opening and closing my mouth the way I did.

After a few minutes of silence Edward pulled his hands away from his face to look at me. He looked worried and even a little embarrassed about what he'd said. "Forget that I said that." He muttered before turning away from me.

_Say something Bella!_ The little voice in my head screamed. But the only thing that came out of my mouth was, "Why?"

"Because it wasn't the appropriate thing to say…"

"No, I mean why does my opinion matter most to you?"

"I don't know. I just don't like you thinking badly of me. It's not really a rational reaction it's...I can't explain it." I just started at him. What are you supposed to say after that?

"Um…"

"Can we just forget I said that?"

_NO!_

"If that's what you want." I managed when my mouth began to function again. The silence that followed was rather uncomfortable.

"Sooooo…What will we do now?" I said after a few minutes, once again staring at my shoes. The easy flowing conversation had come to a stand still a few minutes ago and I still couldn't think of anything to say.

"Well the way I see it we have three choices." He announced. I looked up to see him staring at me with his beautiful crooked grin hitched onto his face. "One; we take the scenic route back to the dorms and converse with one another about nonsensical thoughts. Two; we walk directly back to the dorms and go to bed. Not the most exciting option. And three; we go trick or treating. Your choice."

"Where would we trick or treat around here?" I laughed.

"I have absolutely no idea." He replied laughing with me.

"I like option one. Just promise me one thing…"

"And what would that be?"

"You need to tell me when you get tired of me."

"I don't think that's going to happen any time soon." He whispered as he grasped my hand. "Come on."

* * *

"So are you going to tell me what upset you earlier?" He asked after we'd been walking for a few minutes. We had found a small park on the eastern side of campus and we were keenly exploring this little paradise. I was so happy spending this time with Edward that I had completely forgotten everything else before this moment.

"It's not important." I said looking down at my shoes. My good mood suddenly slipping away.

"If it upset you then it is important." He said pulling my chin up so I had no choice but to look him in the eyes. "Alice said some guys said something to you. What was it? If they were rude to you I'll gladly set Emmett on them." He joked.

"They were just commenting on my costume. And no it's not what upset me. I'm fine really; just overreacting. Don't worry."

"You sure you don't want to talk about it?" He was staring so fiercely into my eyes. I swear he was trying to read my mind. But judging from his slight frown he was failing miserably.

"Mmm hmmm!" I nodded biting on my bottom lip and trying to look away.

"We'll pretend I believe you." He said, before changing the subject. "So did you have fun?"

"Surprisingly yes I did. Parties were never really my thing, but this was…entertaining."

"Wisely chosen words. What was your favourite part of our evening?" He asked leading me to a park bench under one of the larger trees.

"Well as far as I'm concerned this evening isn't over yet. But my favourite part of the _party_ was…probably the dancing."

"I have to say that was my favourite part too. Although I enjoyed dancing with you much more than I did dancing with Emmett. Speaking of which…we never got to finish our dance at the party." I didn't know where he was going with this and judging from his expression he could tell. He turned his body towards mine before continuing.

"I would really like to finish our dance…Would you do me the honor?" He stood up and offered me his hand.

"S-s-sure!" I stuttered and accepted his hand. "But we don't have any music."

"Who said we didn't?" He said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Isn't it ironic that the reason we didn't get to finish our dancing is somewhat essential for us to finish it?" He quickly pressed a few buttons on the keypad. It was quiet for a moment, but seconds later the melodic tones of a piano began to float out of the tiny speakers.

"Claire De Lune?"

"You know this?" He sounded surprised by this knowledge.

"It's one of my favourite pieces pf music."

"Mine too." He said as he placed the phone down on the bench.

"May I have this dance Miss Swan?" He bowed to me and extended his hand once more.

"Of course." I gently placed my hand in his. I wasn't prepared for what happened next.

As soon as our hands touched an even more intense variety of our usual electric current coursed up my arm. I was almost about to pull my hand away, but Edward suddenly tightened his grip and pulled me to him in one smooth motion.

He was so much closer that he had been earlier. It was making it harder for me to remember how to breathe. He placed his free hand on my waist and raised our joined hands. I rested my hand gently on his shoulder and slowly we began to sway to the music.

We stayed this way for another minute or so, before he gently twirled me around. "You know you're better at this dancing thing than you give yourself credit for." He whispered in my ear when I was facing him again. I blushed and tried to hide my face, but with both hands otherwise occupied this was a difficult feat. After a moments deliberation I just dropped my forehead down onto his chest. He didn't push me away so I just left it there while I replied.

His smell surrounded me making it hard to think. Everything about him was perfect, his body, his personality and even his smell. It was like nothing on this earth. No cologne or scent could ever match the smell of Edward. He was just too perfect. It made my heart ache to know I'd never be good enough for him. "Well this is more shuffling than dancing." I mumbled.

He laughed quietly and I felt the reverberations running through my body. I turned my head so my ear was flush with his chest listening to the steady beating of his heart. He raised our joined hands up and placed mine on his other shoulder then placed his hand on the other side of my waist.

"Well whatever it is, it's nice." He whispered as he rested his chin on top of my head and pulled me closer. It was like a scene from one of those old movies. Dancing in the moonlight without a care in the world. I couldn't remember a time when I had enjoyed anything more than this. If only everyday could end like this. I looked up to see Edward watching me with a thoughtful expression. When our eyes met he smiled and lent down to rest his forehead against mine.

We continued to 'dance' this way for the rest of the song. But when the last notes faded into nothing we just stayed the way we were. Not talking, not moving, just looking into each other's eyes. I felt like I could get lost in his eyes. Not that I would mind in the slightest. I could never tire of those shining emerald orbs.

After a few more minutes we, reluctantly, pulled apart. I didn't want to ever let go of him. I already missed the warmth of his body next to mine. It could have just been the weather, but everything seemed much colder that before. I shivered. Edward seemed to notice because he was suddenly shrugging out of his jacket.

"No Edward. Keep it on, I'm fine." I insisted.

He ignored me and draped the coat over my shoulders. His hands lingered on the collar of the coat – well actually on my neck - for just a second longer than was really necessary. I shivered again. "Humour me." Has all he said.

As he turned to pick up his phone I surreptitiously turned my head to sniff his jacket. It carried that same perfect fragrance that he did. He frowned at the display before slipping the phone into his pocket. He came to stand by me again and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Shall we?"

* * *

The walk back to the dorms was quite eventful. The array of costumes people had managed to get there hands on was amazing. We saw, astronauts, sharks, Barbies, hula girls, knights, the Three Musketeers, a nun, even a cockroach. My all time favourite though was the mime.

It was clear that he didn't really know what he was doing but he seemed to be having fun so it worked out pretty well. We found him while we were walking past one of the dorms. We didn't really notice him at first but he made himself known when he started to imitate Edward by wrapping his arm around and imaginary person. When he was sure he had our full attention he was determined to entertain us. Why, I have no idea, but we decided to give him a chance.

He started by pointing to me and then placing his hand on his heart. Then he ran over to the empty garden bed on the side of the path and picking me a nonexistent bouquet of flowers. He then proceeded to trip over nothing and the 'flowers' all fell to the ground. Or at least that's what I'm guessing from his flailing arms and dejected expression.

After picking himself up off the ground he went back and picked me _one_ new 'flower' and made a special effort to get it to me safely. Once I had accepted the 'flower' he smiled and walked away. But not before giving Edward two thumbs up.

As soon as he was out of earshot we both burst out laughing. Edward was doubled over and clutching his stomach when I looked over and that only made me laugh harder.

"He was so bad." Edward laughed.

"Uh huh!" I giggled.

We stayed silent for a few minutes trying to regain our composure. Edward was the first.

"I haven't laughed that hard in ages." He said while wiping his eyes.

"Neither have I." I concurred.

"Not since -" He broke off mid sentence. His face reverted back to the displeased expression that he had worn while on the phone earlier.

I desperately wanted to ask him about what was going on, but I didn't know how to phrase my question.

_Just ask!_ My brain screamed at me.

"Hey Edward?"

_No! Not now. Think first._ Another part of my brain countered

"Yes Bella."

"Um…No, just forget it." I mumbled as I started to walk away.

"What is it?" He asked as he caught up with me.

"Nothing. I was just going to ask…" I couldn't ask him. It was his personal life and if he wanted me to know he would have told me. But he had said we were friends – well judging from how we were dancing we could be much more than that – and friends could ask about friends personal lives. Couldn't they?

"Ask…?" He repeated.

"Who kept calling you before? I'm not trying to be nosy or anything, it's just that you seemed really upset and I wanted to know if I could help."

His expression seemed to become even sadder and I immediately regretted asking.

"I knew I should have kept out of it. Just forget I said anything." I tried to move away again, but Edward had learnt from last time and immediately caught my hand so I couldn't go anywhere.

"No Bella don't go." He pleaded. "It's fine really and you're not being nosy. I…I just can't talk about this right now. I'm not ready to."

"That's fine. Like I said, just forget I said anything." I began to pull him along with me as I made my way back to the dorms. "But I'm here if or when you want to talk to someone." I told him.

"Thanks Bella." He said as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders again.

"You're welcome." I whispered as I wrapped my arm around his waist.

"The same applies to you." He whispered, referring to our earlier conversation.

"I know."

We walked in silence the rest of the way to the dorms, arms wrapped around each other.

All too soon we were standing in front of the door to my room.

"I had a great time tonight Edward." I knew it sounded cheesy but it was all I could think of to say. Beside it was the truth. It was probably the best night of my life.

Edward grinned at me. "I had a great time tonight too Bella. We should do this again some time."

"That sounds like a plan to me."

"Well I'll see you again soon." He said. Then, before I could even process what was happening he quickly pecked me on the cheek and walked away.

"Goodnight." He called over his shoulder.

"Goodnight…" I yelled back before leaning on the doorframe. "…Edward." I sighed holding my hand to my cheek.

Yep! Definitely the best night of my life.

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Please _**REVIEW**__ and tell me what was good, what was bad and what I need to work on._

_Thanks to my reviewers: Zoey Redbird, Edward-Cullens-Little-Whore, CourtneyJ143, EdWarded, liz864, AlicesShoppingBuddie, Vapires. Dazzle, nation108, Ceimi, Xythri, Moonlight Party, love. for. a. lifetime and SavageWoman (Did this give you a good enough Edward/Bella dancing fix?)._

_Please check out the poll on my profile. I need your help choosing which team name to use I like both too much to pick. **VOTE NOW!**_


	11. Photos and Football

**Disclaimer: Continuing my list of pathetic Twilight collectables: I now own some Twilight badges and "I love Edward" shirt and an Edward poster. So I **_**am**_** sad and pathetic, but I DO NOT own Twilight.**

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Chapter 11 - Photos and Football

"For the last time Alice _nothing happened_!" I put particular emphasis on that last part. Yes I had a wonderful evening but I didn't know Edward's true feelings. The edges of our relationship were still a little blurred and I didn't want to go and make a big deal about it in case it turned out to be nothing.

"_Come on Bella you need to give me something."_ Alice grumbled through the phone.

"I have nothing to give." I consoled her as I tried to balance my coffee in one hand and find my key with the other. "We left the party, we walked, we danced, we said goodnight. That's it honest." I hoped my little white - well more on the gray side actually - lie wasn't as obvious to her as it was to me.

"_I know there's something you're not telling me."_

"There's nothing to tell," I repeated. "Can we please not talk about this I mean he's your brother it's..." A flash of colour, caught out of the corner of my eye, caused me to stop mid sentence.

On the floor in front of my door was a rolled up newspaper and a red rose. My thoughts immediately jumped to Edward. The rose was so sweet, but what was the paper for? I knew for a fact that they didn't go door to door handing them out. So it must also be from...

"_Bella? Hello?"_

"Oh, sorry Alice. Hey; can I call you back?"

"_What's wrong?"_

"Nothing I just remembered... there's something I need to do."

"_Okay. I'll talk to you soon then."_

"Bye."

"_Bye Bella."_

I hung up the phone and knelt down to look at my strange gift more closely. The rose was absolutely beautiful, and when held it to my nose I found it smelt even better. I picked up the paper and made my way into my room.

I dropped the rolled up paper into my desk and was about to embark on a search for a vase. But before I took my first step I noticed a small card had fallen out of the middle of the roll. I picked it up expecting to see Edward's neat cursive handwriting, but instead I found nothing of the sort.

_Your photos are my favourites_

_You're extremely photogenic_

_xo_

The card read. There was no name.

By now I was really confused and slightly frightened. Photos? What photos? No one left any photos.

And then it hit me.

The newspaper.

I quickly grabbed the paper off my desk and frantically started to search through the pages to find these images. I only had to turn a few pages before I found them.

There in the middle of a double page collage of last night's party images was a picture of ME! And it was a close up too. I couldn't believe it.

_Oh no!_ I thought. Everyone was going to see this picture. Of all the time when someone could take and publish a photo of me, it had to be the time when I was dressed in some compromising way. Not that you could see much since it cut off anything lower than my shoulders.

I could distinctly remember the moment when this photo must have been taken. Edward and I had been dancing around with the rest of his family in the middle of the dance floor. I was laughing hard because Emmett had just tripped over his crazy clown shoes, while trying to show off his 'special' dance moves, and ended up running head first into one of the tables lining the walls of the room. Let's just say the table came off second best.

I could remember every part of that moment and one of the other photos on the collage showed Clown Emmett on top of the crushed table laughing his head off. The only thing I didn't remembered was anybody taking any photos at the time. And it was a close up. I mean you have to be close for those. Don't you?

I searched the rest of the collage for any more photos of the Cullens, Hales and myself. There were a few more of Emmett, and one of everyone dancing to thriller, but no more of me. I was both relieved and worried about this fact. The card had said 'photos', so where were the rest of them. I quickly scanned the rest of the paper but there were no more photos from the previous night.

My breathing escalated. I grabbed my laptop from my bed and quickly brought up the university website. I spent several minutes searching for more photos, but I found none. I pulled out the paper again and searched for the only person that could help me.

And there, in the corner of the page was a short caption.

_Photos by: James Evans._

I pulled up the school webpage again and plugged in his name. A picture flashed up on the screen followed by a short article. But I didn't read anything. The photo was all I needed.

_JAMES! _The creepy guy Jacob had told me was the photographer for the school paper. I couldn't believe I hadn't made that connection on my own. The frustration passed though and before I knew it I had started to hyperventilate.

James had photos of me?

I knew he had been watching me closely throughout the night but I never imagined he would be...documenting the evening. I didn't even know he was there until much later in the evening.

What had be done with the other photos? I looked at the card again. He said mine were his favourites. Had he kept them? I didn't want to think about that. He'd probably had to hand them all in and they just choose a few photos. I tried to calm down but I couldn't help myself. I started to feel lightheaded due to my hyperventilation. I needed to calm down.

"Bella?"

I would have screamed if I was able to pull in a decent amount of air into my lungs, but as it was I only managed a sort of strangled squeak.

"Oh my god! I'm sorry Bella. I didn't mean to startle you. I thought you knew I was there. The door was open and..."

"No it's fine Edward. Just give me a moment to restart my heart" I managed to choke out, clutching my chest in a meek attempt to slow my hearts frantic beating.

"Are you alright?" He asked as he came to sit next to me on the bed.

"Yeah fine." I said pulling in a large breath of air.

He didn't look as though he believed me. "Are you sure? You didn't look okay."

"Really I'm fine. What are you doing here?" I asked stuffing the paper, card and rose under my pillow. No need to worry Edward.

He didn't seem to notice my actions or my no-so-subtle attempt to steer the conversation away from my current situation.

"Well I was going to ask you if you wanted to study with me. I was thinking we could help each other prepare for that 'quiz' we have on Monday."

"I'd love to Edward." I said, with maybe a little too much enthusiasm. I was thrilled that he hadn't pushed the earlier subject, and equally thrilled that he wanted to spend time with me. "Do you want to stay here or...where do you want to study?"

"Here's good, I don't really want to go to the library. You don't mind do you?" He seemed to be worried about my answer.

"Of course not. Just give me two seconds." I quickly got up from the bed and took my now cold coffee into the bathroom so I could pour it down the sink. "Make yourself comfortable" I called out as I emptied and discarded the paper cup.

When I immerged from the bathroom I was surprised to see Edward was no longer sitting on my bed. He was standing near my bookshelves looking at my photos.

"Is he your boyfriend?" He asked holding up a photo of Claude and I.

I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing. Edward looked slightly frustrated by my outburst.

"No!" I laughed. "Why do you ask?"

"You just look really close that's all." He mused.

"We are, but that doesn't automatically make us an item." I asked.

"I'm sorry. I just assumed..."

"One should never assume anything." I mock scolded him. "Claude and Alex," I pointed to one of the other photo on my shelf. "Have been together for almost two years."

"Oh! So where are the photos of your boyfriend?" He asked replacing the photo on the shelf.

"I don't have one." What's was with the questions?

"Really?" He asked, he looked disbelieving and extremely happy at the same time.

"Really." I confirmed. "Why do you look so surprised?"

"Oh! I just..."

"Assumed I would have one?" I finished for him.

"Yeah."

"Edward, Edward, Edward." I said shaking my head.

"So where do you want to start with this Biology." He said quickly changing the subject.

* * *

"Okay, last question," I said, flicking through my textbook to find something we hadn't already covered in our two hour study session. "Ah ha! Name the stage of cellular respiration in which glucose is broken down to produce carbon dioxide, water and ATP."

"The Krebs cycle" Edward replied immediately.

"God Edward can't you just get one wrong?" I feigned frustration as I shut my books. In the two hours that we had been throwing questions at each other, he hadn't made one mistake.

"Isn't the whole idea of studying is so we don't get things wrong?" He teased, lying back on the floor, where we had been studying.

"You're impossible." I groaned moving to lie next to him.

"You know you love it." He teased. I couldn't help but smile.

_If only you knew Edward._

We just lay there for a few minutes, each absorbed in our own thoughts, until Edward broke the silence. "Bella?"

"Uh huh?" I replied turning to face him.

"Last night wasn't weird for you was it?" He asked.

Well I was not expecting that question. "What do you mean?"

"You know when I kind of...kissed you." He almost whispered the last part.

"Um..." I really had no idea how to respond to that. Was he saying this because he regretted it or was he maybe hoping to move forward and define our relationship?

"I'm sorry, forget I even asked." He said turning back to stare at the ceiling.

I sat up so I could see his face again. "No Edward its fine. I just don't know how to respond to that kind of question. I guess the best answer is...no it wasn't." His eyes snapped to focus on my face. "I mean I'm not going to say it wasn't a little unexpected, but overall it wasn't an entirely unpleasant experience." I tried to sound nonchalant about it but from the overjoyed look in his eye I wasn't doing a very good job.

"Can I ask you a question now?" I asked.

"That depends on what you want to ask." He hedged.

"Well can I ask you why you kissed me?" The sparkle in his eye dimmed and I immediately regretted my question.

"I'm sorry Edward. Don't answer that if you..."

He cut me off mid sentence, "No it's fine. I sort of owe you an explanation anyway." He raised himself up so that we were almost at eye level before he continued.

"I don't really know. I just had this sudden urge to kiss you, so I did. You're not like any of the other girls I know. You make me feel comfortable to be myself. I know I don't know much about you but I do know that you're smart, funny, caring and I really do want to know more about you. You're a mystery Miss Swan and I'm very intrigued."

My jaw almost literally hit the floor. All the words were just buzzing around in my head making absolutely no sense. What did this mean? Is this a confession of his feeling? I didn't know what to think.

Our long awkward silence was broken by a vicious knocking at the door.

"Bella?" Emmett yelled. He kept hammering on the door.

I quickly jumped up to open the door before he broke down it down.

"What is it Emmett?" I asked.

"I need Edward. Is he here?" He seemed really jittery.

I hadn't realised Edward had followed me to the door so I jumped when he spoke. "What do you want me for Emmett?"

"What can't I just want to see my baby brother?"

"Emmett, cut the crap, what do you want, we're kind of busy." Edward complained.

Emmett's eyes dance between to two of us before he raised his eyebrows at Edward. "Well this is interesting. I hope you two are being safe." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at me.

"EMMETT!" Edward yelled. "Tell us what you want or leave."

"Okay okay. Well the thing is Edward...we're having a little game over at the field and we wanted you to play. Well actually I want you to join my team. You see Mike has to work and without him I'm a man down." Emmett made huge puppy-dog eyes at Edward, I'm guessing to try and convince him to help him out.

"Wait a minute. So let me get this straight. You came all the way across campus to try and convince me to play football with you?" Edward asked in disbelief.

"Yeah." Emmett answered in a tone that clearly implied a rather obvious 'duh'.

"We're kind of busy at the moment Em." Edward hinted.

"Please." Emmett whined, "You can bring Bella too. Actually it's probably best if you do, Alice keeps going on and on about Bella and some unfinished business. Well actually she used the word 'conversation' not business but that's beside the point. NOW COME ON!" He yelled grabbing Edward's arm and tugging him from my room. A second later I had locked the door and I was practically running to catch up with them.

Twenty or so minutes later we were walking onto the football field. It looked like the whole team was here to play. Emmett had already dragged Edward of to start the game and I was still standing awkwardly near the goal posts. Then I noticed Rose and Alice sitting on the sidelines waving me over and I immediately made a beeline straight for them.

Alice was the first to speak, "So Bella, what is this I heard about you and a certain brother if mine being locked up in a dorm room all morning?"

I dropped down beside her and sighed, "There's no getting by you is there Alice?"

"Nope." She said jigging up and down in anticipation.

"Well if you must know we were studying."

"For what subject? Anatomy?" Rose giggled, not looking up from the magazine in front of her.

"Rose I barely know him. That's hardly appropriate."

"Well you two looked pretty comfortable last night." She informed me, dragging her eyes off the glossy pages of Cosmo.

"Oh my god Bella I almost forgot." Alice squealed, "Tell us everything about last night. Where did you two go? And don't give me that crap excuse from this morning, this is serious."

"I already told you everything Alice."

"No you didn't Bella. You suck at lying so it's obvious there's something you're not telling me."

"US!" Rosalie chimed in.

"I want a complete recount of your evening. No leaving out any detail, no matter how unimportant it may seem."

"Fine!" I groaned. Alice and Rose shuffled around so that they were both facing me. "No interruptions though." They made a show of locking their lips.

I filled them in on almost every tiny infinitesimal detail of my entire evening, excluding the encounter with James. From the looks on their faces they were getting more and more exited as my recount progressed. "And then hekissedme." I mumbled when I came to the end of my little rant.

"What?" Alice asked, looking confused.

"He kissed me." I repeated.

I swear my eardrums were about to burst when Alice squealed her apparent approval. Rosalie just sat there with her mouth hanging open.

"What's wrong?" Jasper sounded frantic as he ran towards us, clearly misinterpreting Alice's small scream.

"It's nothing," She assured him, "I just thought I saw a spider but I was wrong."

"You're an insane little pixie you know that?" He laughed as he stood to return to the game.

"But you love me anyway." She yelled after him before turning back to me.

"Now Bella...Bella?" She called. I wasn't listening. Having watched Jasper return to the game my eyes had landed on the most incredible sight.

There in the middle of the field was Edward. Now that in itself was breathtaking but what I saw now was just...there are no words. Obviously it was too hard to distinguish teams so as luck would have it they had taken to "shirts and skins". And yes Edward was on the "skins" team. Even with clothes on you could tell that Edward was incredibly toned and perfect, but this just took it to a whole new level.

I watched his every movement, hypnotised by the way his muscles rippled under his pale skin as he moved. I knew my jaw was probably hanging open but I couldn't help it.

"BELLA!" Alice said slapping my face, and not to gently might I add.

"OW Alice, what was that for?" I said rubbing the side of my face.

"For ignoring us," She retorted, "Now if you would remove your jaw from the floor."

I quickly shut my mouth.

"Now EXPLAIN!" She pressed.

"Explain what?" I asked trying to look over her shoulder again. Suddenly Alice and Rose jumped up and I was being pulled around to face the stands. They sat back down and looked expectantly at me.

"The kiss Bella. Explain the kiss." Rose pressed when I made no attempt to answer their questions.

"He took me back to my dorm and before he left he gave me a kiss. That's it."

"No that's not it Bella. We need details."

"He told me that he'd had a great time and that we should do it again sometime. Then he kissed me on the cheek and left. See no big deal."

"No Bella." They both said at the same time.

"This is huge deal." Alice continued.

"I think it quite clear that he likes you." Rosalie added.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that if I were you." I mumbled.

"Bella don't be daft. Do you think we all haven't noticed the way you look at each other?"

"It's obvious he likes you. Maybe you can't see it, but...well we've known Edward a VERY long time and I don't think I've ever seen him as happy as he is now."

"I agree, granted I haven't known him as long as Alice has but I do know that there's something going on here. And you missy, you're face says it all. Every time you see him or hear his name mentioned your face just lights up."

"So be honest with us Bella," Alice said leaning in closer. "Do you like Edward?"

I could feel my trademark blush flooding my cheeks as I answered. "Yes."

They turned to grin evilly at each other before Rose asked, "How much do you like him Bella?"

I looked down as I answered, "A lot more than he likes me that's for sure."

"And how do you know that?" I looked up to see Alice and Rose staring at me.

"That's how it always is."

"We're going to need more information than that Bella."

"It's the 'baby sister' complex." They looked at me, confusion the dominant emotion on their faces.

"The what?" Alice asked, I could see from the look on Rose's face that she was thinking that same thing.

"You know...I'm the girl everyone always sees as the 'really good friend' or 'baby sister'. I'm fun to be around but no one ever wants to date me. They treat me the same as they would their baby sister."

"Well I hate to break it to you Bella but this is not the case in this situation. I happen to be Edward's baby sister and he does not see you the same way he sees me. At least I hope not." Alice laughed.

Rose nodded in agreement. "Alice is right Bella. You're definitely not the baby sister this time."

By the time the boys had finished their game Rose and Alice had effectively dissected every aspect of my relationship with Edward. It was interesting listening to their opinions about certain events or conversations but I still wasn't sold on their ideas.

They only stopped when Edward came over with Emmett and Jasper. Emmett being Emmett decided it would be fun to sneak up behind Rose and pull her into a hug bear hug.

"EW! EMMETT CULLEN LET ME GO YOU'RE ALL GROSS." She screamed as she tried to escape.

"Aw come on Rose. Don't you love me?" He spun her around so she could see his pouting lips.

"Let me go right now." She seethed causing Emmett to release her immediately. As soon as she was free she scooped up her magazines and walked off muttering something about needing a shower.

I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing. Emmett having recovered from his temporarily frozen state turned on me this time.

"Don't even think about it Emmett." I warned, slowly backing away from him.

"Okay, I won't think about it then." He responded before launching himself at me.

I squealed and ran. I could see everyone laughing at Emmett and me as I ran around the field trying to escape from him. It was clear that Emmett was going easy on me.

"Come on Bella," He called. "At least make this interesting."

I tried to run faster but due to my terminal clumsiness I tripped over nothing and went sprawling across the ground. I could hear Emmett's worried voice asking me if I was okay but I was laughing too hard to answer him.

After a few moments a few more people arrived asking if I was okay and I managed to compose myself long enough to deliver a coherent response.

"Okay Bells lets go." Emmett said as he pulled me up off the ground and into a bone crushing hug.

"Ew Emmett." I squealed.

"Why is everyone reacting like that?" He asked sounding hurt.

"Because you're all sweating you idiot." Alice answered.

Comprehension dawned on his face, "Oh! Well in that case I should probably shower up and go and fine Rosie. See ya losers." He yelled as he ran off towards the exit.

"You ready to go?" Edward asked coming up beside me.

I could see Alice over his shoulder giving me the thumbs up, which in turn caused Jasper to give her a questioning look.

"Bella?" Edward said drawing my attention back to him.

"Yeah I'm ready to go."

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See I did make good on my promise :D

**Did you like it? Do you want more? I'll only know if you REVIEW! **

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: rayne. love, Emma-Leigh09, Zoey Redbird, Moonlight Party, nation108, CortneyJ143, x0xtarax0x, SavageWoman, liz864, Amoiy and piper-rox.**

**And special thanks to: liz864 for 'beta-ing' this, SavageWoman and Something Dysfunctional for their peppy PMs and Amoiy for being so devoted :D**


	12. Dreams and Laundry

**What's this? An update? OMG! We haven't seen one of these in a LONG time.**

**Please don't be mad that I took so long. I just couldn't do everything AND be Loulabelle at the same time. It's impossible!**

**Disclaimer: I only own my ideas :( **

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Chapter 12 – Dreams and Laundry

**BPOV**

I didn't know where I was, it was too dark to tell. No matter where I looked, there was nothing. Just endless black. And although I couldn't see anyone I knew someone was there. Watching me

"Hello?" I called, not certain whether I actually wanted an answer or not.

There was no response.

"Who's there?"

Still nothing.

Suddenly the darkness started to recede, but only a little. A slight breeze passed through my nothingness and it chilled me to the bone. And as I wrapped my arms around myself in a futile attempt to conserve warmth I noticed something else.

Looking down at my body I found that I was once again dressed in my Halloween costume.

Then out of nowhere came a bright flash of light to my right. But when I tried to find what it came from I could see nothing. Then it happened again, this time off to my left side. Then another and another and another. All gone much too fast to determine their origin.

The feeling of being watched was now even more uncomfortable than before. I knew something or someone was there and it terrified me that I couldn't see.

The blackness retreated slightly once more and I noticed a slight movement out of the corner of my eye. Another flash blinded me when I tried to get closer to the shape lurking in the shadows. When I could finally see again I noticed that there wasn't just one thing moving around out there.

The darkness surrounding my frozen form was swarming with shapes of unknown origins. No matter where I turned they were there. Ghosting through the shadows.

Then the flashing resumed. I couldn't see anything other than the white lights piercing the darkness.

Closing my eyes did nothing.

The lights kept flashing.

I couldn't look away; no direction provided any relief from the intensity.

The lights kept flashing.

Just when I thought I couldn't stand it anymore it all stopped and I was blinded by another kind of light. This time when I opened my eyes I was greeted by a much scarier sight then the blackness.

I was surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of photographers. All poised with their cameras ready to begin another volley of mini explosions.

They weren't moving. They were just standing there.

I couldn't escape. I couldn't move at all.

Almost like they had timed the action, they all lowered their cameras to reveal their faces.

There he was.

James. James. James.

Everywhere!

"You're extremely photogenic." The clones chanted...

The words echoed through my mind as I sprang upright in bed, screaming.

It was just a dream!

I managed to stop my screeching long enough to heave a huge sigh of relief. But that did nothing to help the erratic beating of my heart or the overwhelming feeling of paranoia that told me I was still being watched.

I looked over at my alarm clock. 4:30am! I groaned. There was no way I was going to be able to get back to sleep now.

A loud thumping on my door sent my heart into overdrive again.

"Bella? You okay? Open the door." Someone yelled.

I jumped out of bed and ran to the door. Through the peephole I could see a very worried Jake standing in the hall. He was about to knock again when I pulled the door open.

"Hey Jake." I said sleepily. "What's happening?"

"Our neighbour was screaming and we got worried." He pointed towards his room where Embry and Quil were standing in the doorway. "That's what's happening." He looked at me questioningly.

"Oh!" Crap was I that loud? "It's nothing really guys I'm fine."

"Really? Because it sounded like some psycho was trying to get into your room or something." I let out a slightly hysterical giggle when he said this, which caused him to look at me with concern.

"No just a really freaky dream." I assured him.

He didn't look like he believed me at all."Okay then." He said as he started back to his room. "Next time no scary movies before bed. Okay Bells?" He joked trying to lighten the mood.

"Sure thing Jake."

"Night Bells." He said closing his door.

I was still too freaked out by my dream to linger in the dark hallway for any longer than necessary so I quickly retreated into my room, locking the door behind me. I knew I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep for hours now so I busied myself with turning on all the lights.

Without all the shadows lurking in the corners I felt much more secure.

I was thankful that Alice had come and taken my costume away the day before. I don't think I could have coped with seeing that outfit hanging on my door. I shuddered at the memory.

Two hours later I was sitting at my desk thrumming my pen against my notebook. For all the time I had spent on one of my most recent assignments I was making very little progress. I couldn't focus on the page and my thoughts kept drifting to my dream or to the rose and card buried in my wastebasket beside the desk.

I kept telling myself that I was being ridiculous, it was only a dream after all, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad would come of this. I pushed my chair away from my desk and bagged up the tiny pile of trash in the basket and left the room to dispose of it.

After the bag was on its way down the garbage disposal I started to feel better. As I 'skipped' back to my room I noticed Jake's door opening and three mighty sleepy looking boys stepped out.

"Hey guys!" I called.

"Hey Bella." They chorused when they realised it was me.

"Lock yourself out again?" Jake teased, momentarily ruining my slightly better mood.

"I'm never telling you anything ever again," I glared at him. "And no Jake I didn't lock myself out. I was taking out the trash." I informed him.

"If that's your story."

"You're not going to let me forget that are you?" I asked.

"Never! But for now I'm going to let it go since we're kind of late for practice," He responded holding up the basketball in his hand before running off to catch up with Embry and Quil.

"Yeah whatever Jake." I called out to his retreating form as I pulled out my keys.

I could help but smile when I remembered the events of yesterday afternoon.

_Flashback –_

"_I'm such an idiot." I whined as Edward and I stood outside my locked dorm room after the game._

"_Bella you forgot your keys, it's no big deal. Besides Emmett barely gave you enough to close the door let alone find your keys."_

"_I still feel silly." I complained. _

_Edward just rolled his eyes. "Okay then silly girl, let's go and see Mrs. Cope." He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and led me away from my locked door. _

_Several minutes later we were back outside the door with Mrs Cope and a pile of spare keys. Unfortunately for us when Mrs Cope offered to keep my spare key for me she had placed it in a container with a number of other spares. And of course none of the keys were marked._

"_I'm so sorry dear." She apologised again as Edward tried yet another key._

"_I'm getting batty in my o-"_

_Edward cut her off with a loud "AH HA!" when the door swung open._

"_Sorry." He chuckled looking slightly embarrassed by his little outburst._

"_Well if that's all you need dears, I'll be getting back to my desk. I suggest you find someone to keep the key for you Sweet." She said as she hurried back to the elevator._

"_Well this was fun." I laughed as I walked into the room._

"_Yes it was. We should do this more often."_

"_What lock ourselves out of dorm rooms?" I asked curiously_

_Edward simply laughed at me. "No, spend time together."_

"_That would be nice." I mused, smiling like a fool._

"_How about tomorrow? I promise to make it worth your while" Edward seemed really excited. What was he planning?_

"_Only because you asked so nicely." I teased lightly._

"_Okay," He moved around the room collecting his books and things. "See you tomorrow then."And he left the room._

"_Wait! What are we doing?" I called after him._

_I heard him laughing from the hallway. "It's a surprise."_

_End Flashback_

"Urgh! It's no use." I called out to my empty dorm room as I slammed my books closed. There was no way I was going to get this work finished today, no matter how I tried.

I swung myself around in my chair so I was facing the room. After our study session had finished I had practically ransacked my room trying to find one of my notebooks. There were clothes and books scattered everywhere around the room.

"Guess I've got no choice." I muttered as I got up to start cleaning.

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_He's everything you want, he's everything you need,_

_He's everything inside of you that you wish you could be..._

I sang to myself as I sorted my dirty clothes into the appropriate washing machines. Being the middle of the day there was no one here so I had free reign over the whole laundry room. I happily plucked another set of socks out of my basket and threw them into the correct machine. But since I pretty much failed gym at school it was to be expected that they didn't make it in.

I huffed in frustration and walked over to pick them up. Once they were in the machine I turned to collect more clothes, only to scream and almost fall backwards into the washer when I saw who was sitting there.

Edward was grinning like crazy as he sat atop the washer where my basket had previously been placed. The basket was now empty, and a quick look in the other washer showed that he had sorted it all for me. Thank god I'd already organised all my underwear.

"What are you doing here?" I gasped, still reeling from his sudden appearance.

"We have plans today." He informed me with a smile. "And might I say that you are one incredibly difficult woman to get a hold of. I've been searching for you for hours. If it wasn't for that guy I would never have known where to look."

"What guy?" I demanded.

Edward looked confused by my sudden outburst. "Jake." He answered. I quickly exhaled the large breath I was holding.

_It's just a dream Bella._ I reminded myself.

"Is something wrong?" He asked worriedly.

I shook my head. "No, no. It's all fine." I quickly turned around to start the washers so he couldn't see my face.

"Okay." He said, not sounding like he believed me at all. "We'll pretend I believe you."

"So we have plans to day do we?" I asked as, turning to face him.

His face broke into a huge grin. "Yes we do. And you can't back out now, you already promised." He must have noticed my perplexed expression because he quickly added. "Remember yesterday? After the game you promised to spend the day with me today."

"Oh! Sorry Edward I forgot." After everything that had happened since yesterday afternoon I'd completely forgotten.

"It's okay. But doing laundry wasn't exactly part of the day I had planned." He teased as he hopped off the washer he was sitting on.

It wasn't until that moment that I noticed what he was wearing. His dark jeans were baggy and faded, but still managed to look good. On his top half he was wearing a plane white T-shirt and a black leather jacket. Down each sleeve were a line of white and a line of blue. I think some drool may have run out the side of my mouth while I looked at him.

When I finally snapped out of it I laughed. "I suddenly feel underdressed." I looked down at my grey sweats and old tie-dyed T-shirt that Charlotte had given me.

"Why? I think you look fabulous." He joked.

I rolled my eyes. "Very funny."

"No really. It suits you."

"I think Alex and Alice would shoot me if they saw me." I laughed thinking of their faces if they saw me walking around campus like this.

"Well we'll just have to make sure they don't see you." He laughed pretending to hide me behind him.

I gently swatted him away laughing hysterically. "Enough Edward."

He turned and pouted at me. "Come on Bella."

I averted my eyes. "No, no, no...I have washing to do." I moved over to the machine which had just finished and started moving my things to the dryer.

"Okay, but for the rest of the day you're _mine_ Miss Swan." He told me as he hopped back up onto the washer he had previously been sitting on.

Spend the rest of the day with Edward? I think I could cope with that. I laughed out loud at my little joke which caused him to look at me with a confused expression.

"Sorry." I laughed. "I just remembered something." I lied.

"Care to share with the rest of the class?"

"Not really." I knew my evasiveness annoyed him.

"Well I guess I'll have to trick it out of you then."

I laughed again. "You can try." I told him in an offhand voice.

"You really shouldn't have said that." He said as he jumped off the washer and started chasing me around the laundry room. After a few minutes he finally caught me and started tickling me.

"NO...NO...EDWARD STOP!" I squealed.

"Tell me what's so funny and I'll stop." He laughed.

"N-WAOH!" I yelled as Edward over balanced and fell backwards, pulling me on top of him. A loud "Oof!" escaped him as I landed on his chest.

We were both stunned for a few minutes before we burst out laughing.

"Well done Edward." I gasped between fits of laughter.

"If was your fault." He laughed back.

I turned my head to continue or little debate and found our noses were almost touching. He was so close and he smelt so good. The urge to close the distance between our lips was almost too much to resist. And for the look on his face he felt the same.

Just as I started to move forward the dryer shuddered to a stop behind us causing me to jump half a foot in the air. I cursed the dryer as I pulled myself of Edward and walked over to empty it.

Life just wasn't fair.

That was the second time in as many days that we had been interrupted.

Once all my clothes were back in my clothes basket I turned to face Edward. I was surprised to see that he was still sitting on the floor. He looked upset about something for a few minutes but as soon as he saw me watching him he pulled his features into an almost convincing smile.

Was that my fault? Had I misinterpreted his wishes? Or was he as upset about this as I was?

"Ready to go?" He asked reaching to take my basket from me.

"Yeah." I mumbled as I allowed him to take the basket.

I made to follow him out the door but he stopped suddenly causing me to run into him. "What are you doing Edward?"

"Making sure the coast is clear." He laughed.

It was like the past few minutes hadn't happened. Weren't we even going to talk about what just happened? I felt my heart sink. I _must_ have misunderstood his feelings.

We walked back to my room in silence. Every so often I would catch Edward staring at me out of the corner of my eye, but as soon as I looked over he averted his eyes.

"You got your key this time?" I chuckled breaking the silence when we reached my door.

I have him a sarcastic smile and waggled the key infront of his face before opening the door. Edward was still laughing at me so I grabbed my washing off him and stomped off towards my bed to start folding it.

"Awwww Bella don't be like that." He whined as he followed me over.

I ignored him.

He was not allowed to send me mixed signals like that_ and_ make fun of me. There's only so much a girl can take.

"Please Bella, forgive me." Be pleaded. "How are we going to have a fun afternoon together if you won't talk to me?"

I rolled my eyes. "Who said I agreed to go out with you this afternoon?" I said in a mocking tone as I walked over to my closet to pack away my folded clothes.

"Please Bella." He pouted. "Forgive me?"

When I said nothing he got down on his knees and pouted more. I looked down at him and my heart melted. He looked so sincere in his emotion. Oh well, even if he doesn't feel the same way about me we can still enjoy each others' company. Right?

"Fine! I'll be two seconds." I said as I pulled some jeans and a shirt out of my closet. Once in the bathroom I quickly stripped off my sweats and pulled on my jeans. I was suddenly immensely thankful that I had showered early this morning. My hair was pretty good today so I just left it out the way it was. I did however grab a hair tie and wrapped it around my wrist. I didn't put on any makeup.

I admired my reflection in the bathroom mirror. Judging from Edward outfit there was no need to get overly dressed up. My outfit was simple, just the way I like it, faded blue low-rise jeans and a simple white eyelet lace singlet top. My hair fell in loose curls around my face and over my shoulders. Overall I was quite pleased with my efforts.

I quickly exited the bathroom and grabbed my dark blue fitted jacket from the closet along with my blue flats. Once I was fully dressed I made my way over to my desk and grabbed my favourite bag off the back of my chair.

"Okay I'm ready." I announced once I had checked that I had all the necessary items. I looked up to see where Edward was.

"You really weren't joking when you said two seconds." He said from his seat on the end of my unmade bed. "I was expecting to wait longer. Alice used to take hours to get ready for school."

I laughed at him. "Well I'm not Alice."

"Good, because that would be weird." He chuckled as we made our way out of the dorm.

_Okay?_ I thought. _What's that supposed to mean?_

"Where are we going?" I asked as he led me towards his Volvo.

He smiled evilly at me. "It's a surprise."

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A/N What does Eddie boy have planned???? Who knows...well I do but I'm not telling you just yet.

If this chapter sucks I'm sorry.

**I hope you can forgive me and that I can get back into the swing of things now. I hope to post another chapter soon.**

**I also apologies if I was reading/reviewing your story before I disappeared and have not reviewed since. I have hundreds of backed up story alerts to get through and I just didn't have the time to read them :(**

**Please review and let me know if there are people out there who **_**want**_** to read my story, even after all this time.**


	13. ANNOUNCEMENT!

**ANNOUNCEMENT!!**

**Okay...so I am willing to bet that only about 10 people will read this A/N but I have to post it and say this...**

**I AM TAKING THIS STORY DOWN!**

**Maybe out there somewhere there are a couple of people reading this who are starting to feel a little sad but It has to be done. This fic has been running for almost a year already and I only have 12 chapters. It's not fair that you should all have to wait so long for chapters and I feel really bad about it.**

**The worst thing is I have so much time to think about the story but not enough time to sit and write it. All my thinking has allowed me to develop my ideas and I know exactly how the story is going to go and I know what I have to change (in the story so far). So I will be reworking the whole story and when it's finished I will be able to return and post updates more regularly.**

**I will be leaving the chapters up until the end of the month then I will be taking them down and just leaving this A/N. I KNOW that am a much better author than I may seem, so if you would like to stick around and read the reworked and much better story then please set up a story alert so you will be notified when it is back up.**

**Thank you!**

**-Loulabelle**


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